Ravenclaw's Throne
by Shadow Mouse
Summary: Kevin Rashall, sorted into Ravenclaw, hides from his own dark memories-- but that grows more difficult as he learns of Hogwarts' secrets and learns to live again. Please R and R! *Chapter 15 up!*
1. At Hogwarts

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter One: At Hogwarts~~  
  
Wow. Kevin shook his head slightly as he paced down the hallway towards his dormitory, walking with the other students. He couldn't stop looking at the castle around him; the enchanted ceiling that seemed to open up to the sky, the spectacular carvings in every nook and cranny, the gargoyles and winding staircases... it was simply too much to take in all at once.  
  
As he and many other students turned right slightly to head up the marble staircase to the second floor, Kevin noticed that a few students were falling back, two or three of them running outside or standing beside the staircase, perhaps to get a private word.  
  
Kevin bustled about in the huge amount of students. He had no one to walk with and was hence pushed more easily by the other students, no doubt not noticing they were jolting him around. A few people had greeted Kevin at his table in-between the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables, but he had remembered none of their names.  
  
He had been the forth to last to be sorted, and any weak attempt at a conversation with another student had been forgotten on both ends with the surprising entrance of who Kevin had picked up was known as "Mad-Eye". The scarred face was frightening, but not particularly gruesome, as some people seemed to see it.  
  
The most frightening thing Kevin had experienced was sitting on that stool in front of the whole Hogwarts school and seeing the knowing looks on their faces, before the talking hat had been placed on his head. Had he looked scared then? He had tried to hide his fear behind a slight smile, but he didn't even remember what his face had been doing right then.  
  
Kevin was broken out of his reverie by a low moan next to him. Kevin didn't know how he had heard it in the general buzz created by at least one hundred students talking, but he didn't think of that at that moment. He saw a boy- older than he was defiantly, but not a sixth or seventh year student- with his foot jammed into a step. Kevin's eyes widened. How in hell has that boy broken the marble step? He thought, thinking his eyes to have deceived him He then heard someone else passing by mutter about a 'trick step.' Kevin would have tried to help the boy, but he realized that a few other people were already leaning foreword to help him up. Kevin let himself be pushed onward with the crowd, carefully jumping the odd 'trick step'.  
  
Ravenclaw. Kevin liked the sound of that. He wasn't sure about the sorting hat's half-rhyming verse on Ravenclaw- "--For Ravenclaw, the cleverest would always be the best--" but he was glad to be in that house anyways. He supposed that one could take clever two ways; it was most likely meant to be a compliment in the song. It seemed almost like an insult, however, when paired with Gryffindor's "--By Gryffindor, the bravest were prized far beyond the rest--".  
  
As far as Kevin could tell, most people who had not been sorted or were not in the school saw Gryffondor as the epitome of good and Slytherin as the epitome of evil. Kevin was personally glad he was not in Gryffondor with bravery to live up to, as he almost always saw discretion as the better part of valor, but then again he was happier not to be in Slytherin. Ravenclaw seemed to have two faces, depending on how you looked at it; one plotting, and hard to trust, and the other intelligent and logical. That was exactly what Kevin thought he might be able to live up to, if given a free reign between the two faces.  
  
He would have most likely flipped out if he had been in Hufflepuff; although they were made to sound good, they merely seemed to him to be stuffy and... well... somewhat dim to Kevin.  
  
After he entered the dormitory, Kevin's first thought was his luggage. He had not even noticed the weight of his duffel while carrying it up the steps, but he instantly dropped it on his bed and opened it up. He heard the other students around him but ignored them; he was concerned for his belongings. Not that there was really way they could have been damaged, of course, but he still felt extreme relief finding that each and every possession of his was fine. The long trip from the US to Briton was bad enough, but then there was the confusing trip from muggle Briton to the wizarding Briton.  
  
He slowly put each of his things into place, on or in the cabinet beside his bed, or simply under the bed if he didn't have room for them. The Ashallan School of Wizarding Ways had certainly been roomier, and the layout seemed to make more sense. On the other hand, every student knew every tunnel of Ashallan School, and Hogwarts, as Kevin was told, had so many secrets that not even the headmaster knew all of it's corridors and rooms.  
  
Now the question was, was that a good thing?  
  
Kevin had been called at age ten to The Ashallan School of Wizarding Ways to learn the arts of being a wizard. He had lived in an orphanage, and had enjoyed it because he knew of nothing else. He thought it had taken him the whole year to get used to being a wizard. He found that by then end of it he still wasn't but was at least used to some of their ways.  
  
The entire next year at Ashallan was one of the best of Kevin's life. He had enjoyed being with his friends, learning new spells, and getting more used to life as a wizard. When the end came, however, something terrible had happened. A catastrophe so destructive had occurred that Ashallan School was ruined forever... and over half of the people in it were killed.  
  
All the students from Ashallan had been moved to 'places of safety'. Kevin was told he was lucky to be going to Hogwarts, where the famous Dumbledore would protect him. No other students from Ashallan would be coming to the school, for two reasons. The first was that there was only an 'opening' for one other student at Hogwarts that year. The other was that all living students from Ashallan were to be moved to separate locations for safety measures.  
  
Kevin shook his head. He had spent the last several weeks trying to keep the memory of the catastrophe out of his head. The first few days after the end of the school he had thought about it all day, almost unable to speak. But recently, he had been finding that keeping the memory away from him seemed to be working.  
  
Perhaps it had been the spells that his guide (he had never been told him name, for 'safety reasons') had been casting on him. But no matter what it was, Kevin found that he was no longer always haunted by those memories. He liked to think of them as a past life. He had been born the second he got to platform 9 3/4. Before that, he had been nothing. All the memories were false, untrue, nonexistent, a lie.  
  
It helped, too, with expelling the memories of his friends. His past friends... people who he had known in a past life... that did not exist. Kevin shook his head again, this time smiling slightly. They never existed.  
  
"Stewart."  
  
Kevin turned around, surprised. Another student was sitting on his bed behind Kevin's, a friendly smile on his face, his hand extended.  
  
"Stewart Ackerley. Nice to meet you."  
  
A barrage of painful memories blasted into Kevin's mind. He shoved them away mentally, not letting anything slip onto his face, and raised his hand.  
  
"Kevin Rashall. Nice to meet you too." Not knowing what else to say, Kevin shook Stewart's hand and returned a smile.  
  
Stewart frowned slightly as he heard Kevin speak. "You're. US?", he asked dubiously.  
  
A real smile slid onto Kevin's face for one second. He held it there, trying hard to be sociable. "Yep. I'm a... exchange student. A- um- permanent- exchange student." Kevin realized what dangerous ground he had just gotten in to.  
  
"Ok," Stewart said. Kevin knew that he didn't buy it, but Stewart didn't say anything about it. "Sure." They both seemed to have run out of things to say. After a second, Steward gestured to a stack of old-looking hardcover book and smiled guiltily. "Got to read up. Nice meeting you." He turned away.  
  
He had the whole year to do almost whatever he wanted, because he already had the knowledge of the full first year of magic. Anything that the first year at Hogwarts covered that Ashallan hadn't, he would have learned in his second year at Ashallan.  
  
Kevin drew the drapes on his bed after that. The other students greeted one another; he half-heard them while reading up on the history of Hogwarts. Hogwarts: A History was a rather informative book, but there were others around about Hogwarts also. Kevin actually enjoyed reading about Hogwarts from different points of view. He learned that one could not dissaprate or apperate on Hogwarts grounds. He read about Godric Gryffindor and Salzar Slytherin, and Slytherin's malice against Gryffindor.  
  
There was one book he had found that had been written by a graduated Slytherin student, with quite a history in the school; it's point of view was... thought provoking, to say the least.  
  
He read long after the other students had retired. Several hours after they were asleep, he got out of bed and passed the beautiful tapestry of a raven that served as the Ravenclaw common room door. Only those who knew the password, however, could enter; the tapestry would remain stiff as rock from the outside unless the secret word was uttered.  
  
As he left the common room, he checked one last time. Holding the tapestry half-open, he muttered to the raven in a whisper, "The password is deepfang, right?" The raven did not move, but Kevin somehow sensed a twinkle in its eye. He smiled as he left the room, walking down the corridor toward the marble staircase in the night. He was getting to like Hogwarts already.  
  
After a few hours of walking, Kevin came to the library. He shifted some books around, rather unimpressed by the Hogwarts selection, but then heard low voices through one of the bookcases. Someone was on the other side. Kevin frowned, tensing. His midnight strolls had gotten him in enough trouble back at Ashallan; he had heard the punishment was worse at Hogwarts. He couldn't help it, however; he could never manage to go to sleep until early in the morning. He didn't even feel tired until then. Some nights he even went without any sleep-and didn't feel tired for it.  
  
"I've checked; it's not here."  
  
Kevin pressed his ear to the bookcase, still ready to run at any time. The voice was rather deep, Kevin wasn't sure if it was a student or a teacher.  
  
"Where is it then? Has it been moved to the restricted section? Damnit, we have to find the bloody book!"  
  
Kevin furrowed his brows. The woman or girl who had been talking was obviously rather frantic. Kevin was beginning to suspect these were students and not teachers, from the way they were acting.  
  
Then, a third voice spoke. Kevin frowned, trying to hear. The voice was shallow and quiet, almost impossible to hear. "I know it was here... somewhere here..."  
  
The girl spoke again. "Well it's not, dammit, its not here anywhere, and we've risked our necks five nights for it. It's time we use magic to find it."  
  
"No! One of the teachers, if not the headmaster, is sure to detect it! We can't use magic of any kind."  
  
Kevin assumed there were three students. The one with the quiet voice had not spoken again, unless Kevin had entirely missed what he was saying.  
  
After a small bit of silence, Kevin heard the faint traces of something being whispered, and then several quiet footsteps heading off out of the library. Kevin followed at a long distance. Hopefully, he could find what house these strange students were from.  
  
As Kevin walked out of the maze of bookcases following the sound of footsteps, he could finally see the threesome. The fastest of them was a tall boy in wizard's robes with no hat, being followed by a girl and a short, odd person who walked as if he had a wooden leg of some sort. Kevin could not make out any colors, as a torch in a ways in front of the band silhouetted them, and their forms were completely black.  
  
As the three student neared the torch, and Kevin followed against the wall, Kevin heard a different set of footsteps, these loud and precise, coming from an intersecting corridor. He froze in place, panicked, as the other students dashed down a different corridor.  
  
The other footsteps slowly drew closer. Breaking out of his panic, Kevin managed the run down a long corridor towards a large set of double doors. He heard the footsteps pass behind him, and watched the silhouette of a tall man pass by the passageway he was in. After a few seconds more of waiting, Kevin made the dash out of the corridor and back towards his common room. He had been through enough adventures for one night. 


	2. New friends

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Two: New Friends ~~  
  
Kevin got up early the next morning, as he usually did, not feeling the slightest bit tired. His mind wandered to the adventures of last night. Who had those students been? And what were they looking for in the library? They had obviously been prepared to take risks for it. Also, it was obvious that it wasn't there anymore, whatever it was. Did that mean other people were after it?  
  
Kevin figured the first thing to do was to find what the students had been looking for. But if he could not find the students, he had no ways of knowing that.  
  
Is it really any of your business? Kevin thought. Of course it is. If it is a secret, it's by business... and it certainly is if other students are after it.  
  
The breakfast tables were full the next morning, and almost everyone around was talking about the Triwizard tournament. Kevin was not particularly interested himself; he was too young by far to compete, although it would be interesting to watch. He ate his food moodily, in somewhat of a bad mood. His laptop computer, his pride and joy, had failed to work; Hogwarts grounds somehow messed up 'technology'.  
  
At Ashallan, there had been no restrictions in that area. Ashallan had been more... practical. They had not made one write with quills, not use muggle technology, and best of all, they had looked down on muggles very little. There was a class there that Kevin had taken; Study of Wizarding/Muggle Cultural Differences, and it had been very informative on the practicality of magic, and advanced technology.  
  
Kevin had a good look around the Ravenclaw table. There were plenty of faces, and a good amount of them would easily fit into the silhouettes he had seen. However, there was nobody who he thought would match the tall boy he had seen leading them; nobody who was that height seemed to have the long, sweeping hair that Kevin had noticed.  
  
After about twenty minutes of eating, owls began soaring in the windows. There were hundreds; several dropped packages onto the laps or cupped hands of other Ravenclaw students, but Kevin had no mail. He hadn't been expecting any. The only thing that surprised him about the morning was that Dumbledore hadn't talked to him about. his business here. Nobody had. He was being treated like a normal student.  
  
After breakfast was over, and the students got up to go to their classes, Kevin decided to look around for a match to the mysterious, rule- breaking teamleader he had seen. He headed towards the Gryffondor table, and started following a bunch of students that seemed to be headed out the main door. Kevin kept on catching a glimpse of black, ruffled hair- could that be the famous Harry Potter? Kevin quickened his pace, but a large amount of Hufflepuff students heading for the marble staircase cut across his path.  
  
Kevin muttered a curse at Hufflepuff house in general and ran towards the back of the stream of students, but by the time they were out of his way the Gryffondor students were out the door, heading to Herbology class. Kevin cursed again, stamping on the floor and spinning around on one foot. Most of the students had gone by now; however there were a good amount of teachers around, and one of them, a frowning, black-haired teacher, was looking right at him. Kevin gulped and hurried off up the staircase.  
  
Kevin had absolutely no idea where he was going. His first class, divination, was a subject Kevin had all but mastered already. He had heard an amount of rumors about the Hogwarts divination teacher; that she was a fraud, an idiot, and other more rude things, and he felt that he wasn't missing much. Supposedly the air in her classroom was so foggy that she wouldn't notice if a student was missing. She seemed just as bad as all that to him, leaving him feeling a bit odd after the class. and he had gotten lost, again.  
  
Kevin actually had a talent for crystal-ball gazing. Almost every time he looked into one, he would see something that had no resemblance to a white fog; he was also practiced in reading tea leaves (not his favorite subject, and he rarely drank tea) and palmistry (which he found was not as interesting as gazing by far; after all, a large amount of wizards had scarred hands.).  
  
He was walking down a long corridor when he heard footsteps ahead of him. Kevin frowned; if it was a teacher, he might want to turn around, he wasn't supposed to be out of class. Then again, divination might be over by now. But was he heading the wrong way to his next class? Kevin made an about-face, but he heard a sharp voice behind him.  
  
"Turn around."  
  
Kevin did, reluctantly. He knew he was in trouble by the sound of that voice. Right down the corridor from him was Prof. McGonagall, the head of Gryffondor house.  
  
"Who are you, now? I don't recognize-" McGonagall broke off, and her eyes widened slightly. "Oh- Rashall. Kevin Rashall?"  
  
"Yes. Yes- Ma'am."  
  
McGonagall nodded her head the slightest bit, like she was assuring herself of something. Kevin wondered what was going on. Did McGonagall know about why he was here also? He had been told that only Dumbledore knew that. Did Dumbledore trust McGonagall that much?  
  
"I believe you should be heading towards Potions, Rashall. The dungeons are this way." She pointed down a separate corridor. Kevin started in that direction.  
  
"Just down the marble staircase and then down the smaller ones to it's right. You can find the dungeon." Kevin nodded, and hurried off.  
  
Potions was somewhat grim; although Kevin admired Snape, the potions teacher, for his knowledge of potions, it was rather unpleasant working with him. Snape was the kind of teacher that Kevin usually liked working with. He was smart, his potions were affective, and his lessons were to the point. However, something about the Prof. Snape's rude attitude towards both the Ravenclaws and the Hufflepuffs who they were taking the class double with, and the cold of the dungeon, ruined the experience for Kevin.  
  
After Potions, Kevin had Arithmancy, double with the Slytherins. He headed up the dungeon steps, thinking over a lesson Snape had given him, and then turned and started up the marble staircase. After passing several portraits and statues he entered the classroom. The Slytherins were seated at one end of the neat, practical classroom, and the Ravenclaws at the other. Kevin saw several students look at him as he came in. Was it just his nerves, or was there something about him that everyone was staring at?  
  
Kevin barely paid any attention throughout the class. He already had all of the stuff he was practicing down. The thing he was concentrating on was a Slytherin girl. Her hair and form seemed to perfectly fit the image of the girl in the shadows that he remembered. She was, Kevin guessed, about five feet tall, with black hair that went down almost to her shoulders. She was hunching over her desk, writing rapidly, trying to keep up with the teacher's lesson.  
  
Finally, the lesson ended. Kevin was nudged by another Ravenclaw who he did not recognize. "What are you looking at?"  
  
Kevin shrugged and turned back to his book. The student beside him shifted slightly in his seat.  
  
"Oh my god, that is something to stare at... I can't believe you saw her before I did!"  
  
Kevin rolled his eyes and turned around. The student beside him was a young, handsome boy with black hair. He saw him staring right over Kevin's head at the Slytherin girl. The girl seemed to have noticed, however, and turned her head towards the boy next to Kevin.  
  
"Hey, just looking," The boy muttered, and turned back to his seat. Kevin thought that the eleven-year-old was more interested in gaining a reputation as being cool at the school than girls at his age.  
  
The Slytherin girl raised her eyebrows angrily and mouthed something rude at the boy. He smiled, and hunched lower in his seat.  
  
Finally, the lesson ended. Kevin learned that the Ravenclaw boy's name was Jonathan Courier, and that he was a half muggle, half wizard. Jonathan had been very talkative and had gotten both Kevin and him in trouble, losing Ravenclaw five points. Kevin had tried to follow the Slytherin girl after the class, but Jonathan got in way.  
  
"Hey, what do you think of her?"  
  
"Shuttup" Kevin snapped angrily, pushing past the boy. He had taken about all he could handle from the boy at class.  
  
"No seriously, what do you think of her?" Jonathan asked, prancing into Kevin's way again. Kevin knew he would lose his chance to talk to the Slytherin girl if she sat down at her table before he intercepted her. He shoved past Jonathan again.  
  
"Hey, come on! I'm sorry I'm so chattery at class but I'm a talkative person! Now where are you going?"  
  
Kevin cursed mentally and turned around. "I'm going to lunch, where I believe everybody else is going. Now stop following me."  
  
He spun around and began sprinting down the steps three at a time, muttering a quick apology whenever he knocked into somebody. Unfortunately for him, three at a time down the steps led him right into the trick step on the marble staircase. Kevin's foot sunk firmly into the step. By the time it was loose, almost everybody was seated at lunch, and his chance was gone.  
  
After a rather boring lunch, being pestered by Jonathan about god knew what (Kevin didn't listen) all through it, Kevin finally managed to get away from Jonathan for a few seconds to overview his work. It seemed to be all in order; some papers he had to make could easily be magically copied from some of his Ashallan reports (he had learned the spell Magical Duplicate in a class at Ashallan.)  
  
After arranging his papers in his bag, Kevin moved out of his dormitory, wondering where the Slytherins were going. He supposed he was obsessing too much about the Slytherin girl. There were others that looked like her. Maybe it was the way she held herself that matched the image in his mind so well?  
  
Kevin forced himself to stop following up on what had happened last night and to pay attention to his classes. He paid attention in the next two classes before dinner; Jonathan seemed to have finally gotten the message from Kevin and left him alone.  
  
Kevin finally ran down with the rest of the Ravenclaw first years from his last class of the day to dinner. The food was noticeably better than the Ashallan stock. Kevin wondered who made it; at Ashallan the food was magically prepared by djinns; they worked hard but were not prime cooks.  
  
"Hi there. What's your name?"  
  
Kevin turned his head to see a pretty black-haired girl sitting on his right side. She was watching him while spreading butter on a piece of toast.  
  
"Uh- Kevin. Kevin Rashall. Pleased to meet you." He stuck out his left hand and awkwardly shook hers.  
  
"You too. Are you from around here? 'Cause you have a strange accent."  
  
"Uh... well I... moved here a year ago, and got my letter just... well, you know."  
  
"Were you surprised? My mum and dad are muggles, but not all the way, sorta. They are both authors, and love fantasy books and all that. They didn't believe the letter until I met another kid who had gotten one. I'm not sure where he is though. I think he might have been sorted into Gryffondor, but I'm not sure because I so nervous..."  
  
Kevin almost replied that he hadn't been very nervous, but then decided to be fair and recalled his first time at Ashallan. "I was terrified. I'm glad I was sorted into K- Ravenclaw."  
  
Krysten took a bite off of a chicken leg. "Neat," she said, still swallowing her food. "I was kinda hoping for Gryffondor-well, you know, Harry Potter, it's got a really, really good rep after he came in. But I guess I'm glad I was put into a house that was prized for cleverness."  
  
"Me too." Kevin grinned. "Back at-" he stopped dead. How hard was this going to be, keeping all of the events of the last two years of his life away from his friends? And acting as an eleven-year old when he was going on thirteen?  
  
"Back at what?" Krysten raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Really." Kevin smiled, hoping it looked convincing, and turned his head away.  
  
Dinner ended not too long after that. Kevin met Stewart Ackerley again up in the common room, and challenged him to a game of wizard chess. It was interesting, because Kevin hadn't seen before how all the pieces looked when they 'died'. He got a course on that when Stewart destroyed each one of his pieces, until his king was left alone on the field to be checkmated. Kevin had conquered a grand total of three pawns and a knight.  
  
After the chess game Stewart retired to his dorm, and Kevin stayed down to chat with Krysten and her new friend Lyra.  
  
After talking for about half an hour, Lyra went up to bed and Krysten followed after clearing up a couple of astrology papers. Krysten liked astrology as a hobby, but not as a class.  
  
Kevin dreamed again that night.  
  
He was standing on hard rock. All around him, the land jutted downwards hundreds of feet into roiling black fog. There were only a couple of feet to walk on.  
  
Kevin looked up. There was another of him, a duplicate, standing on the other side of the land. He was frowning.  
  
"What do you want?" Kevin asked, his voice shaking.  
  
"Don't do it, Kevin. It will kill you. Don't do it." The other him widened his eyes slightly. The real Kevin's vision blurred...  
  
Voices echoed inside of Kevin's head... someone screamed, and reached out and touched his hand.  
  
Julianne? Kevin thought desperately. You're dead... you're not alive anymore...  
  
Shaking his head, Kevin looked up again. His duplicate was wearing the same grim expression. "It almost killed you before. There is a greater danger here. You are closer to your worst enemy."  
  
"I don't have an enemy!" Kevin yelled.  
  
The duplicate raised his hand slowly. Black mist began slowly creeping up the edges of the cliffs. The hand raised, slowly, and finally stopped, pointing right at Kevin. "Your worst enemy... don't do it."  
  
Kevin shook his head. "If my enemy is myself, than you are my enemy. Go away!"  
  
"I am not you, Kevin," his duplicate said grimly. He began shaking his head from side to side. His face changed, slowly, growing scars and bruises. Finally it stopped. Kevin was left staring at a bloody, mauled face, clearly his own. Opening his bloodstained mouth, his duplicate spoke one last time. "You must go now." And with a wave of one hand, he pushed Kevin backwards, to far, off of the cliff, down into the fog....  
  
"Don't take the throne." 


	3. Evelyn

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Three: Evelyn~~  
  
Kevin awoke the next morning in a cold sweat. His first thought was that he was bleeding; he rubbed his hands across his face to reassure himself he was in the real world. He had never dreamt like that before. It had felt real, realer than even his twisted, nightmarish memories of the fall of Ashallan school.  
  
Kevin dressed in a new suit of clothes as daylight began streaming in the windows. He went down to the common room and started to play a game of chess against himself. Somehow, the pieces that were destroyed began to change in his eyes, into images of his old friends, being broken into a million pieces. He put the game away.  
  
After pacing around the common room for several minutes, he finally walked out into the endless mazes of corridors of the school. As he left the dormitory, he heard the raven call a mournful sound behind him.  
  
After walking out into the main intersection of corridors right at the marble staircase, he took a random passage and began walking down it. The portraits and pictures he passed all took the shapes of his friends; Julianne, Archibald, Rauol, Jerry...  
  
Finally, Kevin found and empty corridor with no pictures. He took a deep breath and began jogging down the passageway towards the doors at the end.  
  
'Meow.'  
  
Kevin spun around, startled. The caretaker's cat was down the corridor from him, staring at him with bright eyes. Kevin hissed at it. The cat did not move. Unnerved, he turned around and walked up to the double doors. Pulling one open a crack, he looked to see what was beyond. It seemed to be another bare passageway. He opened the door quickly and went through, closing it tightly behind him. The passage ahead of him sloped downwards, going on as far as Kevin's eye could see.  
  
Running down the empty passage helped clear Kevin's head. He reminded himself that he had said goodbye to his friends already. His dreams were just terror and shock induced twisted recollections of the past. Nightmares were common with people who had suffered from a catastrophe such as he had; that was exactly what his guide had said. They would go away completely soon. They would.  
  
Feeling much better, Kevin slowed his pace. The corridor he was walking down eventually intersected with another, wider, passage, this one with portraits and paintings here and there on the walls. Kevin looked down the route to the left, and to the right; both intersected again into other passages. He began worrying if he could find his way to breakfast in time.  
  
Deciding to go down to his left, Kevin turned and began running. He went into the other passageway, took a left there, and continued running. The passage ended with a door; he opened it and began walking down another ramp. Suddenly, his foot slipped; he tried to grab onto the walls but his hands were too sweaty to hold onto them. The ramp got steeper, and he slid further, faster, and unable to catch hold of anything. Up ahead, he could see the ramp finally even out to some kind of intersection. Bracing himself, Kevin closed his eyes...  
  
Thud.  
  
"What the-"  
  
"Holy-"  
  
Kevin landed from the ramp onto cold stone, and barely managed to stay on his feet. Right in front of him was a girl, looking shocked, with her arms pressed against the opposite wall.  
  
Kevin, still trying to catch his breath, didn't have time to say anything before the girl spoke. "Where the hell did you come from? You just... just..."  
  
Kevin blinked. He recognized the intersection but could not place it. "I was just, um... running and... where am I?"  
  
The girl waved her hand. "The main intersection, of course. How did you get here?"  
  
Kevin looked behind him. There was a blank hall where the ramp had been. He pressed his hands to it; cold stone, and nothing more. "But I was right here, I mean I just came down the-"  
  
The girl shook her head. "You're new to Hogwarts, aren't you?"  
  
"Er, yes," Kevin said. "Who are you?"  
  
"Evelyn Sellina. You? You're late for breakfast, you know."  
  
Kevin frowned. "I'm Kevin Rashall. If I'm late then what are you doing here?"  
  
Evelyn quirked her mouth cynically. "Girl's bathrooms that way." She pointed down the corridor behind her.  
  
"Oh."  
  
Rolling her eyes, Evelyn started jogging down the staircase to the dining hall. Kevin turned again. He pressed his hands hard against the stone wall, feeling every inch of it. There was nothing unusual about it. Just cold stone.  
  
Kevin ran down the staircase after Evelyn who seemed to be heading towards the Ravenclaw table. He felt like apologizing for startling her like that, but couldn't find the words to say it. 'I'm sorry I tripped down a ramp that didn't really exist and almost ran into you' didn't seem to cut it. Neither did 'It was really an accident, popping out of nowhere like that, I just tripped after all'. Kevin decided to just leave it be.  
  
"So," Evelyn said, slowing her pace. "What year are you?"  
  
"First" said Kyle. "But I'm-" he stopped himself again. Evelyn seemed not to have noticed, however.  
  
"I'm a second year. So, do you still have the same first year schedule? Never mind, you wouldn't know. I don't even quite remember."  
  
"Well it would make since that I haven't seen you yet, if you're a second year. Does it get much harder?"  
  
"Well, a bit. It's not all that much harder than last year though. Just some different classes and more interesting homework."  
  
Kevin smiled slightly. He took a seat at the Ravenclaw table. Evelyn, however, stopped and looked confused. Her hand was on the back of a seat at the Slytherin table.  
  
"You're a Ravenclaw?"  
  
"You're a Slytherin?"  
  
Kevin laughed briefly, looking confused. He supposed he shouldn't have assumed she was a Ravenclaw, but she hadn't at all showed the characteristics of how Slytherins were supposed to act to other houses; haughty, curt, and often outright rude. Was it because he was a Ravenclaw and not a Hufflepuff or Gryffondor?  
  
Evelyn seemed to find this strange. She frowned as if she was disappointed and turned away. Kevin shrugged and sat down in his chair.  
  
"Who was that?" Krysten asked lightly. "You're making friends with Slytherins?"  
  
Kevin abruptly snapped, "Is there a problem with that?"  
  
Krysten, looking affronted, replied "No, there isn't. I was going to say that it was good to meet people in other houses."  
  
"Oh." Kevin frowned. "Sorry then."  
  
It was more than fifteen minutes after lunch when Kevin realized that Evelyn was the black-haired Slytherin girl he had been trying to find. 


	4. Wanderings

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Four: Wanderings~~  
  
Two days after, the Defense Against the Dark Arts class came up on Kevin's daily schedule. This particularly interested Kevin because he had not had that class or anything reminiscent of it at Ashallan. There, he had simply leaned useful spells in different classes. He assumed that Wizarding Self-protection was the most similar of Ashallan class to the Hogwarts Defense Against the Dark Arts.  
  
Just before the class began, Kevin remembered that Mad-Eye Moody would be teaching the class. He wondered what that might be like. The man was supposed to be practically insane. Why was he teaching? There must have been some great reason for Dumbledore to elect him. After all, didn't Prof. Snape want the job?  
  
Two hours later, Kevin walked out of the class, amazed. Mad-Eye had demonstrated some very effective curses and their countercurses, and expected the students to do a large amount of work on the study of the spells and their counters. Kevin did not mind; this was one class that actually fascinated him. Or, was it actually that this class brushed so close to actually teaching Dark Magic? Kevin shook his head. That thought was ridiculous.  
  
Kevin managed to make it through the other classes before lunch and then hurried over to the table. He ate his food quickly, and then hurried up to the Ravenclaw common room to start writing up on the spells he had been studying. One of them, the Confundus charm, would confuse a person as to what was going on around them for several minutes. Another nasty spell, the Conjunctivitis charm, would inflame the eye inner eye of the person you cast it at, and temporarily render vision impossible.  
  
Another interesting spell that Mad-Eye had taught the class for self- defense was the Difindarma spell, which was intended to destroy or hurt the wand or weapon of an opponent. Kevin was surprised at how much Mad-Eye taught in one class. Were there enough curses in the world to fill a whole school year of classes?  
  
Krysten was still muttering about how rude Mad-Eye was to go into the Conjunctivitis charm in so much detail. Kevin hadn't minded it in the classroom, but now that he thought of it, it was rather disgusting. He spent a few moments wondering what Mad-Eye might be teaching seventh years. Most likely countercurses to the kind of spells that one would find in the restricted section. Kevin grinned to himself, thinking of what it might be like to be a seventh year.  
  
Krysten wasn't in the mood for talking. Kevin tried to start a conversation several times and she barely replied. He looked past her at Lyra, also uncomfortable because of Krysten's bad mood, but he couldn't imagine conversing with someone he barely knew while looking past the head of the person he knew best.  
  
Turning to his other side, Kevin saw that Stewart Ackerley seemed to be talking to someone else. Kevin frowned moodily, took another bite of his food and swung his chair around. Evelyn sat right across from him, and surprisingly enough she wasn't talking to any of the other Slytherin students. Kevin shrugged. He almost spun his chair around again, but stopped. Maybe if he watched her he could find out who her friends were, the people who had been looking for what Kevin assumed was a book in the library.  
  
Kevin was startled when Evelyn suddenly turned around in her seat. Her face was wearing a nasty glare directed right at him. Like she had known he was looking at her. Kevin gulped, and turned around back to the table.  
  
"What is it?" Krysten asked moodily.  
  
"Um... nothing. Slytherins. You know?"  
  
Krysten rolled her eyes and muttered something about biased students. Kevin rolled his eyes.  
  
Kevin played another game with Stewart and got beaten again that night. After Stewart went to bed, he began to feel restless again. He forced his head hard into his pillow and closed his eyes. He was not going to wander around again. Not tonight.  
  
Two hours later, Kevin pulled himself out of bed, not the least bit sleepy. He cursed under his breath and went out to the common room to get a drink of water. After taking a few sips, he splashed his head into the magic basin, and then dried off with a towel. He was feeling more awake by the minute.  
  
The tapestry sat there, coaxing him. What difference was there from in or out of the common room? He could slip back in any time. No one would know. He could even get some more studying done on Mad-Eye's spells. No one would even realize he hadn't gone right to sleep. No one.  
  
Kevin cursed at his own weakness, and walked towards the tapestry. He could hear no noises behind it. Nothing at all. He stepped a bit closer, slid it aside the tiniest bit, and peeked out. No one was there; the passage was empty. It was filled with the scent of night, the wonderful feeling of being alone with hours to explore. Holding his wand in his hand, just in case, Kevin carefully slipped past the tapestry into the passage.  
  
After taking two dead end hallways, Kevin finally took a corner he had not noticed before. It curved around several times, and, much to his surprise, ended right outside the main boy's bathrooms- which was nearly on the other side of the castle.  
  
Kevin walked around randomly for a while, but something in his heart kept tugging at him. It was wonderful to be out, with no confines, but he wasn't getting that thrill, of doing something he wasn't ever supposed to do.  
  
Finally, Kevin found himself heading towards the library. He didn't know why; it just attracted him unexplainably, like a magnet.  
  
Kevin finally reached the library. He felt a nervous buzz inside of him, the thing he had truly been searching for. The thrill of breaking the rules. He slowly brushed past book by book. He had seen almost all of these at Ashallan, or even thicker tomes.  
  
Finally, something caught his eye at the very bottom of one of the bookcases. It was a large tome that seemed to be bound with solid gold. After removing it carefully from the shelf, he found that it was not gold that bound it, but some less valuable material, like brass.  
  
There was no title on the binding of the book. The cover, however, had a dragon engraved into it. He frowned yet again. He had never seen anything like this before.  
  
Kevin's hands slowly ran across the cover, tracing out the figure of the dragon. It was in perfect detail, even the flames roaring out of the thing's mouth. Kevin carefully grasped the cover in his hand and pulled up.  
  
It resisted.  
  
Kevin frowned, confused. He tugged again. Something more than the weight of the large cover was keeping it there. But in the dim lighting of the library, even with his practiced night vision, he could not make out what it was. He gently placed the book in his pack, and got up. The weight of the book was instantly noticeable.  
  
Although he felt like moving back towards his common room, something about the silence of the library made him stay. Maybe there were other things like that book. He had to find them, something told him. He always had to find things before others did. That was what he was good at.  
  
Unfortunately, although he looked hard, Kevin could not find anything else that truly caught his eye. The book he had picked up seemed to be the only one like it in this part of the library. He sighed. Perhaps he could search more later. 


	5. The Forbidden Forest

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
A/N: I started writing this story after months of. well. not, because (amazing!) I got a review. Oh course, it's my own dumb fault for uploading all four chapters at once and waiting for comments, but. well, now I know better (. Excuse clumsiness because this is the first I've written in the Harry Potter world for a while. I do hope you like it. I've also gone back and changed problems in earlier chapters, but mainly on sentence structure.  
  
~~Chapter Five: The Forbidden Forest~~  
  
Transfiguration. Divination. Arithmancy. Defense Against the Dark Arts. Care of Magical Creatures.  
  
The next few days seemed to go by in a blur to Kevin. He began taking interest in the classes he had found boring before. The teachers at Hogwarts' way of teaching were very different from the straightforward classes of Ashallan. At Hogwarts, he saw creatures firsthand, instead of looking at a few moving paintings of them in an old book. It was a whole new way of looking at the school. He found that he would rather take the classes he had thought boring then not. with the exception of those mind- numbingly boring lectures that Prof. Binns gave, of course.  
  
There remained the mystery of the book, of course. It wouldn't open. Why a large book with nearly blank gold covers that refused to open would be sitting in the library, he didn't know; however, no opening spells he could find would work on it. And for some reason, he didn't want to tell anybody else about it. The more he tried and failed to open it, the more it intrigued him, and the less he felt like sharing this strange secret.  
  
He didn't stop his nightly wanderings, of course. Every other night he would travel around the school, only content when he had sufficiently explored. He had thought that a busy schedule would help, but it didn't even make him feel more tired. He was fine with only a couple hours of sleep every night. He knew that was very odd, but it didn't stop his habit.  
  
Kevin saw Jon once more after he had ditched the annoying kid a few days ago, in the small amount of time after he finished lunch and before he had to go to his next class. He was talking with a few other boys and girls his age, and that was actually the first time Kevin had seen a Slytherin, a Ravenclaw, a Gryffondor, and a Hufflepuff joined in friendly conversation, without a dirty look traded between any of them. They were sitting around a table in an empty classroom Kevin had passed while walking from lunch. He watched for a while from a distance, intrigued but not feeling talkative. Strangely enough, Jon was not at all acting like his chattery self.  
  
He noticed that they seemed to be playing a card game, although the cards were like nothing he had ever seen before. They showed beautiful pictures of mythical beasts, medieval warriors, and awesome spells, each picture surrounded by several numbers and a description.  
  
All the cards were floating over the table like a shield around each player, adjusting themselves so nobody else could see them. Their placement seemed random to Kevin, although the four at the table were constantly glancing at different bunches of enemy cards as they moved.  
  
Jonathan moved, wearing a perfect poker face. He drew and discarded a card from what appeared to be his hand, and then slid a whole array of cards forward, looking pointedly at the Hufflepuff.  
  
The card game went on for about ten minutes more, and then it as brought to a close. A few comments were traded between the students and then they got up to go to their classes. Kevin hurried away before Jon could see him. He found it odd that the boy should act so strangely when he was around most people, and then completely differently with three of his friends. It was none of his business, naturally, but who cared about that? He would make it his business. He'd find every secret this castle had to hold.  
  
Krysten's bad mood persisted throughout the week, but when Saturday came around she brightened up. She invited Lyra and Kevin to join her for something out in the school grounds, but would not say what. Lyra agreed, and Kevin followed suit after a moment of hesitation. He had hoped to ask Evelyn a few things, but told himself to stop obsessing about her. Although he wanted to find out what the things he had heard his first night here meant, he reminded himself there were other ways to find out. Her two companions could very well be from other houses, houses he was less uncomfortable with.  
  
Krysten ran out the door lightheartedly, followed by Lyra, and behind her Kevin. The day was bright and sunny, and Kevin enjoyed it thoroughly. He hadn't been out in the sun for while.  
  
As Krysten led them further out into the grounds, Kevin began to wonder where they were going. He could see a ramshackle hut not too far off; could that be their destination? They passed up the hovel, however, and continued on, heading straight towards the forbidden forest.  
  
As they grew nearer to the boundaries, Kevin slowed. Twenty feet from the first tree, he stopped altogether. "Krysten, where are we going?" He asked nervously. He had heard and read about the dangers of the forbidden forest, enough not to want to experience them firsthand.  
  
Krysten turned. Although Lyra said nothing, the same question Kevin had voiced was clear on her face.  
  
"Just a little bit further. Come on!" Krysten turned about again, running straight into the long shadows cast by the sun, into the edges of the forest.  
  
Suddenly she stopped. She turned around triumphantly, and beckoned them to come closer. Lyra rolled her eyes and moved closer, followed by a nervous Kevin.  
  
"Look," Krysten whispered, and gestured up at a tree she was standing next too. Kevin did, and saw a normal tree, perhaps an oak, with several branches. He shrugged.  
  
"So, there's a tree."  
  
"No!" Krysten looked at him with a frustrated expression. Without another word, she swung one hand around the lowest branch of the tree and pulled herself up. She then continued to climb steadily higher in the tree, until she stopped at a certain branch and turned back to look at her two companions. "Come on," She said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Kevin looked at her askance and began to follow.  
  
He made it up the first branch without trouble, but then found his foot stuck in an indent in the tree. He cursed, drawing a startled look form Lyra, and tried to pull it out. Finally, he managed to get his foot out of the tricky hole, and pulled himself one branch higher to allow Lyra to climb up.  
  
Unfortunately, Lyra had a bit more trouble then Krysten, and even Kevin, did. Although she pulled herself up by the first low-hanging branch easily, and even with one hand, impressing the duo watching her, she found the she wasn't tall enough to grab onto the next handhold up the large tree. Her feet planted awkwardly to avoid the trap Kevin had found himself in, it was impossible for her relatively short body to reach up high enough to grab the next branch, a large, sturdy thing that shot out of the trunk of the tree only to loop around overhead.  
  
"Krysten, grab my hand," Kevin said. Krysten did, although reluctantly, and then Kevin began to slide lower down the high branch he was on. Finally, with Krysten stretching out as far as she could and Kevin barely staying on the tree, he managed to get down low enough to place of hand on the bough Lyra was trying to get hold of. He pushed hard, once, but the branch barely moved. Realizing he was going to have to put more weight on it, he reluctantly let go of Krysten's hand and shinnied down the branch he was now putting all his weight on. He then carefully placed one foot on the lower bough, and then the other one. His weight made the old limb creak, but it swayed down several inches, low enough for Lyra to grab.  
  
Lyra shot him a thankful look and then pulled herself up too it. As the limb began to creak more, stressed nearly beyond it's limit with two people on it, Kevin jumped back up to the other limb. Lyra found herself carried upwards as the branch recoiled from the release of Kevin's weight, and took advantage of that by grabbing onto the branch that Kevin was balanced on. Surprisingly athletic, she had no trouble pulling herself all the way onto it. They were now high up on the old tree, but Krysten was climbing ever higher.  
  
Unfortunately, this branch was even weaker than the last one. Instantly, it began to creak, and it shuddered under the weight of the two youths balanced on it. Kevin widened his eyes and looked for another limb to climb to. Unfortunately, the only step higher was the sturdy limb that Krysten was just getting onto.  
  
Before Kevin could even begin to speak, Krysten was backing off on the branch. As soon as there was room, Kevin jumped back onto it, but the already cracked limb still creaked with Lyra near its tip.  
  
Lyra nearly sprinted down the branch towards Kevin and Krysten. Under the weight of her forceful, panicked footfalls, the branch finally gave way, and with a last shuddering groan, snapped.  
  
Lyra's scream tore through the near silence of the forest. Somehow, the woods dampened it, made it seem less real, and Kevin knew that no one outside of the forest possibly could have heard her.  
  
In most of the books Kevin had read, moments of panic or desperation happened in slow motion. This moment, however, was painfully fast, too quick almost to be real. He reached foreword with his hand, Lyra fell towards him in midair, Krysten gasped in shock behind him.... it all happened in less than the blink of an eye.  
  
Suddenly, Kevin realized a weight on his hand. He had caught Lyra! He swung his other hand down, and caught her hand with both of his. Her eyes were tight shut-the drop below her was long.  
  
"Lyra," Kevin gasped, "Grab on with both hands!" She managed to comply, still not opening her eyes, shaking with fear. Kevin barely managed to pull her up another inch-and then another-  
  
Lyra grabbed onto the limb of the tree and pulled herself up. "Thank. thank you," She said quietly. But Kevin had turned to Krysten.  
  
Slowly, Kevin turned to Krysten, whose eyes were still wide with shock. "What in the name of all things magical," Kevin began slowly, annunciating every syllable, "did you bring us here for?"  
  
Krysten, finally breaking out of her state of shock, just gestured for Kevin to look at something. He did, looking past her onto the ground below, into the forest. Lyra saw something-she gasped and grabbed Kevin's hand tightly. He squinted down into the underbrush below. What were.  
  
Then he saw them.  
  
  
  
A/N: A cliffhanger (. Mauhahaha! This end of the chapter was written rather awkwardly, I hope it doesn't read that way. I'm sorry the chapters are getting shorter, I don't plan it to be permanent. Please R + R! 


	6. Raven

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Six: Raven~~  
  
Centaurs.  
  
They were beautiful; half man, half sturdy, strong horse. Their coats differed in color, as did the shade of their skins, but it was obvious they were all very close to each other. Their hooves were planted firmly into the ground, and they seemed a perfect picture of strength and kindness.  
  
There were ten or eleven of them, grouped in a circle around a great oak that's branches stretched far over twice as high as the tree that Kevin was sitting in. They were chanting, quietly, their voices a perfect harmony. Kevin realized that although they were all chanting different words, the melody was the same, and their voices were more in tune than anything else Kevin had ever heard.  
  
Finally, Kevin looked back at Krysten, but his expression was one of appreciation, not anger. He turned his head back, and they watched the centaurs for several more minutes before Kevin backed off on his branch, and whispered, "Why don't they notice us?"  
  
Krysten smiled. "They do," She said. "They just don't mind us; me, at least. I don't know why. Do you think they wouldn't have heard us climbing the tree, or Lyra's scream?"  
  
Unexpectedly, one of the centaurs broke away from his group and headed towards the tree in which the threesome occupied. Kevin stiffened, but Krysten merely smiled.  
  
"I am Keirhein, Watcher of the Sky. This is our grove." Seeing confusion still plain on Kevin and Lyra's faces, he elaborated. "We, the centaurs, are people of the ground, but watchers of the stars. We live and die, although our lives are longer than yours by far. Some of us live here, in the Forbidden Forest. Sometimes, we tell the future, and unveil the past, but we do not interfere. The knowledge is enough for us."  
  
Kevin nodded, still very confused. "Why did we have to climb a tree, when we just as easily could have walked in?" He asked. He glanced again at Lyra and gave Krysten a pointed look.  
  
Keirhein laughed. "You could not have walked in so easily as you think. This grove cannot be found by normal means. If you had walked into it from he ground, you would have found yourself on the other side. It is protected by an ancient charm, and no mortal man or woman can see or touch our sacred grove without our permission."  
  
Kevin nodded, trying to be patient. This was only bringing up more questions. "How did climbing a tree help us see it?"  
  
Keirhein smiled broadly. "That is your friend's mistake. The first time she saw us, she had climbed this tree. She thought it was the only way in. But no uninvited mortal could have seen our grove from this tree, or any other place."  
  
Krysten frowned. "Why are we invited?" She asked.  
  
Keirhein's face turned grave. "You, Krysten, are special. I will not tell you how here and now." He turned to Kevin. "And him. a child of shadow." He frowned. "I did not invite him in. But he sees nonetheless. It is strange, but perfect."  
  
"Child of." Kevin stopped. "Wait. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. It's an honor to meet you." He reached his hand down, and the tall centaur reared up on his hind legs and shook it.  
  
"The honor is mine. It is not every lifetime a centaur sees someone like you."  
  
"Why can I see you?" Lyra asked quietly.  
  
The centaur looked disturbed. "You. wait." He turned his head sideways, looking deep into her eyes. Kevin felt her grip on his hand tighten. Finally, the centaur spoke again. "You are insightful, child, but not. not enough to see us. Somehow. your friend's touch." He looked at her hand, holding Kevin's.  
  
Krysten said quietly, "Lyra, let go."  
  
She did-and gasped. "Where. Kevin, Krysten, I can't see them!" She was looking right at the centaur, Kevin could see, but didn't seem to see him. "I." She reached back for his hand.  
  
"There they are again. I see." Lyra smiled. "So I'm not, er, special?"  
  
Keirhein shook his head hard. "You are unique, even more then you know. You simply don't have the sight to see us alone. Perhaps it will come to you as time goes by." He turned, looking back at the group. "I must leave now. Perhaps we will meet again. I am honored to meet you, child of shadow." He nodded to Kevin one last time and then trotted off into the forest with the rest of the centaurs.  
  
Once they were down the tree, Lyra laughed joyously. "That was amazing, Krysten! Thank you."  
  
Kevin smiled. "I don't know what he meant by 'child of shadow', but I don't like the sound of it. Nevertheless. thank you, Krysten. I am glad we came."  
  
"Child of shadow," Krysten puzzled. "Sounds like the Heir of Slytherin business I heard went on two years ago."  
  
Lyra laughed again at that. "Heir of. Slytherin? Oh, I heard about that. Very funny, Krysten." At Kevin's confused glance, she added, "There was an ancient secret room within the school that only the Heir of Salzar Slytherin could open. It was opened again two years ago."  
  
Kevin shrugged. "Sounds interesting, I've never heard of it before."  
  
"Yeah." Lyra bit her lip. "I really couldn't see them without holding your hand. it must mean something. Maybe I can find out."  
  
"You certainly have an extensive library here!" Kevin commented. "I found a."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
Krysten and Lyra chorused, "WHAT?"  
  
"Oh. I'll tell you when we get back, then," Kevin said. He hoped they would forget. The book was his own secret.  
  
"You know," Kevin said at dinner later, "The one thing I notice Hogwarts is missing-I mean, what Hogwarts could use, was a class to teach some offensive and defensive spells."  
  
"Offensive?" An older Ravenclaw asked from a few seats down. "The only 'offensive' spells are the Dark Arts."  
  
"That's what I heard," Krysten muttered. "And for defense, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts."  
  
"Yeah, that's a great class," Kevin replied. "But. sure, defense against the dark arts is good, but what about defense against other things? Every now and then, you'll be sure to encounter some dark wizard who would gladly resort to a knife."  
  
Lyra looked over at him, surprised. "I never thought of that. well, there are a lot of binding spells in The Standard Book of Spells. I heard of one which tangles someone in ropes. it's a third level spell, though."  
  
"Yeah, but that's not all that affective," Kevin muttered. "Back-I mean-oh, forget I said it."  
  
Lyra shrugged; she seemed all too happy to. Krysten, however, was looking at him askance. Kevin didn't see, as he was looking up towards where the headmaster was sitting, but he felt her gaze.  
  
*You again.*  
  
*Yes, me.*  
  
Kevin was again on the rock in the mists. It seemed the be smaller then last time. The other him was standing across at the other side, staring into his eyes grimly.  
  
*How are you are talking to me in my mind?*  
  
*I am part of you.*  
  
*You denied that before.*  
  
*I denied I was you.*  
  
"What part of me are you?" Kevin asked aloud. "I've never seen you before, since I came here. Why haven't I? And how can you reach into my thoughts. and my dreams?"  
  
*You could call me your alternate personality. The one that never truly came to be.*  
  
Kevin looked to both sides of him. *Why doesn't this feel like a dream?* He asked. *I can feel the wind.*  
  
*It's only half a dream, Kevin. Half a dream. I'm the dream. this is real. In your mind, but real.*  
  
*I don't understand!*  
  
*You never did.*  
  
Kevin crouched low and the wind began beating at him faster. He could easily be thrown off if he stood up.  
  
*What did you mean before? What is Ravenclaw's Throne? What do you know?*  
  
*So many questions.*  
  
*Answer me, damn you!* Kevin reached for a wand, but found he had none. *At least tell me what you meant. what almost killed me before. and the Throne. What do you mean?*  
  
*You are a child of shadow, Kevin. The only child of shadow. Light- day-is your enemy. Do you remember the Visitor?*  
  
Pain-Terror-Evil-It's coming. Kevin's vision was blurring, old memories stirred.  
  
  
  
  
  
*NO! You won't. show me. I won't see it again. I've left him behind. He destroyed Ashallan, wasn't that enough?*  
  
  
  
  
  
His reflection smiled cynically. *You wish. He wants -you-.* He pointed at Kevin suddenly, and Kevin felt a sharp pain on his left arm. Looking down, he saw a line of blood tracing itself across his skin.  
  
  
  
  
  
*Stop.*  
  
  
  
  
  
But the other him had stretched his other hand. Kevin was once again falling back. into the mists.  
  
  
  
Kevin woke suddenly. His right hand instinctively reached over and grabbed his left. He felt blood on his hand; a shiver ran down his spine, and he shot into a sitting position. Something was very wrong.  
  
Kevin jammed his feet into a pair of old slippers and walked out of the boy's dormitory. He could wash his arm in the magical basin; it wouldn't get dirty, as an enchantment kept the water pure.  
  
Pushing the door shut behind him, he tiptoed down to the common room- and froze. What was Lyra doing down here?  
  
She was sitting in one of the chairs, a huge book open on her lap, her head back on the chair. She was asleep.  
  
*What was she looking at? But I'll wake her up if. well, that's stupid, she needs to go up to her dorm anyways.*  
  
He softly walked over and tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"What. oh. Kevin." She blinked several times. "I fell asleep looking for something, I'm sorry."  
  
"I didn't mean to be rude, but I thought it might be best if you didn't sleep here all night."  
  
Lyra grinned. "No, I-Kevin! Your arm!" She sat up, dropping the book to the floor, and took his left arm in her hand. "You're bleeding badly."  
  
Kevin suddenly noticed how odd it was that he wasn't feeling any pain from the cut.  
  
"How did you get this?" Lyra asked, sounding very worried. "Here." She pulled the sleeve of his shirt up to his shoulder. "Just a second, let me get something to dip in the basin."  
  
Kevin wasn't listening. Now that his mind was focused on the wound, it began hurting. more and more every second. He grimaced and sat down on the chair, his head in his hand. Too many old memories. thoughts.  
  
Lyra had returned. She was dapping his arm with something wet, wiping off the blood. "Thank. thank you." He managed to say.  
  
"You've lost a ton of blood. as soon as I bandage this we should get Madam Pomfrey." The cold was hurting badly, but most of the pain was from inside his arm, deep inside, and it was spreading.  
  
"Oh my god." He heard. It seemed as if she was speaking from a great distance. "Kevin! Look!"  
  
With a great force of will, he lowered his left arm so he could see it.  
  
The cut of his arm was horribly deep, but that wasn't what drew his attention. With the blood gone, he could see how the cut was shaped. It was a figure drawn with perfect precision-a raven's head.  
  
Staring at that symbol, Kevin's mind suddenly cleared. The pain was fading fast now, as quickly as it had come. The grogginess was disappearing.  
  
"Lyra. Please, don't get anybody. Don't tell anyone." Kevin was looking her straight in the eyes-she couldn't break away. After a few seconds, she nodded her head.  
  
Kevin got up. "I'm feeling a lot better now." He rolled his sleeve down. "Please, Lyra, the last thing I need is more. I mean. people worrying about me."  
  
Lyra nodded again. "Okay, if you say so. This is all very odd, though. You're not." She broke off, biting her lip.  
  
"Anyways, what were you looking up?"  
  
Lyra smiled slightly. "You-'child of shadow', like the centaur said. Remember? Anyways, I found a reference in an old book. About the child of shadow and the knight of dawn, or something like that. But I can't find any other details."  
  
"Lyra, that was kind of you. But please, just forget that. It was just some nutty stargazing centaur."  
  
"You've asked a lot of me, but I've asked you for nothing at all." Kevin cursed and turned away, but Lyra continued. "I'll forget it. if you tell me about."  
  
"Tell you about what?" He snapped, his back still turned.  
  
"You."  
  
Lyra was surprised when Kevin uttered a couple of very foul words she hadn't heard before and stormed up to his dormitory, leaving her standing with the book in one hand and a bloody cloth in the other.  
  
A/N: Yeah, I very obviously need a beta reader at this point. the plot is thickening (too fast, but there you have it) and things are growing a bit confusing, but I think I have it all in order (.  
  
A/N 2: Sorry, I had to re-upload. I really need to stop using italics, I forgot they don't work on ffn. I'll be outlining thoughts with *s from now on, then. 


	7. Dreamy

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Six: Dreamy~~  
  
Kevin didn't have time to feel bad for how rude he was to Lyra earlier. The moment he closed his dormitory door behind him, he staggered over to his bed and collapsed onto it. He didn't know what was happened-the only thing he was sure of was that he had felt that way before.  
  
Before.  
  
No thoughts. Just before.  
  
Trying to keep his mind from wandering, Kevin made himself go to sleep.  
  
No other dreams haunted him the rest of the night.  
  
The first glimmers of sunlight through the dormitory window woke Kevin early in the morning. He felt, for the first time in a long time, very well rested.  
  
-Morning. What happened? Where...- A glance at the scabbing wound on his left arm brought his memories back all at once. With a sigh, he lay back against the pillows again.  
  
There were too many puzzles here for him to figure out. He needed help. But whose? Certainly not his fellow first-years. he wasn't going to get any help on this from an eleven year old. A teacher. no, he couldn't trust them yet. That was his mistake before.  
  
He saw only one choice. Whether or not he gave away everything, it seemed the only sensible thing to do. He had to talk to Dumbledore-and today, before he slept again.  
  
Kevin dressed slowly, trying to think of what he'd say. He could walk over to Dumbledore after breakfast and ask him if he could talk. Dumbledore would surely know what he meant. He would first tell him about. what? Did he want to betray Krysten's secret, and tell Dumbledore about the centaurs? What if he told her not to see them again?  
  
-This is more important then the feelings of a single girl,- he snapped to himself. -Still. I could begin on a different tack; no point in endangering her secret first thing.-  
  
Perhaps he could say he was still having dreams. Vivid ones. He could tell Dumbledore about himself. the him he had seen in his dreams.  
  
-And he'd think you're insane.-  
  
Kevin sighed. What could he do? Show Dumbledore the cut on his arm? What else would he give away? None of it made sense. He had heard good things about the Headmaster, but he didn't buy for one second that he would believe a thirteen-year-old boy with an odd scar and some crazy stories. Especially one who had been through something that could quite possibly provoke insanity.  
  
-Is it crazy to live in the past?- A part of him way back in his head asked. -If the past is preferable to the present, why not live in it instead? You miss them, don't you. chess with Archibald, scheming out another trick with him and Rauol. and just talking to Julianne. Looking in her eyes.-  
  
"SHUT UP!" Kevin roared, pounding his fist against a wall. Students all around poked their heads out of their bed curtains, wondering why he had yelled. Kevin ignored them and walked downstairs. But it had worked-the voice was gone.  
  
Along the way to the Great Hall, he encountered a group of Slytherins he had heard about-Draco Malfoy and his clique, Crabbe, Goyle, and a few other Slytherins, included a girl taller then Kevin himself.  
  
"Don't remember seeing your face around here," Malfoy drawled. "You must be one of the first years." He walked forward slowly and held out his hand. "If you're smart, you'll make friends with the most important people around here-namely, us Slytherins. Interested?"  
  
"I -know- I haven't seen your mug before," Kevin snapped back, "Because you don't have the black eye I would have given you yet."  
  
Draco drew his hand back with a look of disgust, and his two thugs Crabbe and Goyle stepped forward, attempting to look menacing. "You'll regret that, fool." Draco said coldly, and spun on his heel, walking away.  
  
Back at Ashallan, Kevin hadn't really been a troublemaker. He'd have played a few pranks on the teachers with his friends every now and then, but it was all in good fun, of course. However, he despised arrogant purebloods like Malfoy. They deserved just what he liked giving them.  
  
"Wait a second," Kevin called after Malfoy. The blond-haired boy stopped, turned, and walked a few steps back, sneering at Kevin.  
  
"What now?"  
  
"I don't remember giving you that black eye I promised yet."  
  
"Are you-"  
  
Unfortunately for Draco Malfoy, he never got to finish that sentence. Kevin's right fist swung forward and caught him in the jaw, sending him reeling a few steps back in shock and pain.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle jumped forward, glad to have an excuse to hit somebody. Kevin dodged a clumsy punch from Crabbe, pulling out his wand, and jumped a few steps back.  
  
"WHAT IS THIS?" Guiltily, Kevin dropped his wand and turned around. A thin, gangly red-haired Prefect stood at the end of the hall, storming towards Kevin menacingly. "How DARE you even THREATEN to use magic in Hogwarts without permission-my god, at another student, nonetheless!"  
  
Kevin was about to offer up the best excuse he could think of when the Prefect suddenly slowed down and spoke. "Oh. Draco Malfoy. I see." He cleared his throat. "Fifteen points from Ravenclaw for a disgusting breach of Hogwarts rules. And." He turned to Malfoy. "Ten from Slytherin, for provoking a fight."  
  
Draco was livid, but another of the Slytherins whispered something to him that seemed to calm him down. Without saying another word, he turned and left.  
  
The Prefect-'Percy' from his badge-turned to Kevin with a frown. "I'll have to talk to the head of your house about this, young."  
  
"Rashall."  
  
".Rashall."  
  
"I'm sorry, Prefect," Kevin said stiffly. It was the best he could manage.  
  
Because of the holdup, Kevin wasn't early for breakfast, he was just on time. He seated himself between Krystina and Lyra's usual seats, but Lyra wasn't there.  
  
"Where is Lyra?" He muttered to Krysten.  
  
"A few seats down. She traded with Stewart's normal place. not sure where he is."  
  
"I wanted to apologize to her."  
  
"Good!" Krysten turned her head over to him with a frown. "You really hurt her feelings."  
  
"I don't know how. I just told her to."  
  
-Come on, Kevin, snap out of it,- he told himself.  
  
"I mean, I'll apologize to her when I see her next. I really didn't mean to be rude. Wait-what did she tell you?"  
  
Krysten finished chewing a bite of porridge, and then paused before answering. "She said she was looking into that 'child of shadow' business, and you. told her not to bother. Rather rudely."  
  
"I'm sorry," He said again. "To you and her. I am. But I really don't want you bothering. I'm sure I have it all sorted out."  
  
Krysten didn't look convinced, but was tactful enough not to pursue the subject at the breakfast table.  
  
As it happened, Kevin didn't even see Lyra again until much later that day, in the common room. Gavin Kellar, a sixth year, was reciting some kind of humorous monologue, and Lyra was in the group who had pulled up chairs to listen. After a punch line had passed, Kevin tapped her on the shoulder.  
  
"Hey, Lyra. Could you talk?"  
  
"Sure." If she was acting any differently, he certainly couldn't notice. So far, so good.  
  
Kevin spoke up after they had moved over to the opposite corner of the room. "Lyra, I'm sorry I was rude last night. And. er." -What else should I say?- He was suddenly wondering to himself. -I hope that's enough.-  
  
"Thank you," She replied sincerely. "I'll stay out of your business if you want, Kev." -'Kev'? Where in the world did that come from? Girls were so odd sometimes- "But please, ask me and Krysten if you ever need anything, 'kay?"  
  
"Thanks. And I will." He smiled at her and moved off to his dormitory to think. He hadn't really settled what he had wanted to today yet. He hadn't screwed up the courage to talk to Dumbledore-he kept wondering if it would be wise. Dumbledore was supposed to be his protector here, of course, and yet.  
  
He had to. He really had to. He would now.  
  
"Prof. McGonagall? I was hoping to talk to Headmaster Dumbledore."  
  
"He's talking to a few of the teachers right now, Rashall." McGonagall responded, continuing to shuffle through her papers.  
  
"But it's. important."  
  
"Oh. Oh, of course-yes, Dumbledore said you could see him if you really had to. Come along."  
  
"Thank you very much, Professor," Kevin replied sincerely. "I do think it is important."  
  
McGonagall led him along several twisting corridors until he finally arrived at a stone statue set in the wall, tall and imposing. Kevin was still marveling at its expert craftsmanship when it moved away to reveal a stairway-McGonagall had said some kind of password.  
  
"Up you go, Rashall. Just knock on the door up there."  
  
Kevin jogged up the steep stone spiral staircase nervously, stopping a few steps away from a door. He could hear voices talking inside. Hoping he wasn't interrupting anything, he knocked on the door.  
  
The voices inside paused, and Dumbledore's voice called out, "You may enter."  
  
Kevin opened the door. He was looking into a circular, tall stone room, with a fire crackling in the fireplace and pictures of former headmasters adorning the walls. Dumbledore sat at a desk, talking to Prof. Snape. Both of them were looking straight at him.  
  
"Ah, Rashall. I've been wondering when you'd come talk to me," Dumbledore said kindly. "Severus. tell her not to worry."  
  
Snape nodded to Dumbledore and hurried out without a word, shutting the door behind him. Kevin was left standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.  
  
"Sit." Dumbledore gestured to a comfortable looking chair by the fire. Kevin walked over and sat in it, his head down. His thoughts were racing. How to begin?  
  
"So, Kevin-may I address you so?-ah, thank you. Kevin, I hope you understand that I have not had you come to my office merely out of sympathy."  
  
"Sir?" Kevin asked, confused. "I don't follow.  
  
"I didn't want to make you worry more then you had to your first days here. You have nothing to worry about here at Hogwarts-it is a fresh start for you."  
  
-So, he really doesn't know. I wonder if.-  
  
"However, I do have something that might help you. If you are having any troubling. dreams. this may help." He handed Kevin a small blue bottle. "Three drops drunk with water before bed will keep away any kind of dreams at all. You'll just have restful sleep. You might want to use it for a while."  
  
Kevin was surprised, to say the least. Did Dumbledore know? How much, if so? "Er. thank you, Sir. This will be a great help."  
  
"Not at all! If you ever need more, just ask Madam Pomfrey to refill it. She'll know what you need. There was also one other thing. If you have any. memories. you might be better off without, I might have a solution."  
  
Kevin's eyes shot up from the bottle he was holding. -A solution? Forever? No, it's too good to be true.-  
  
"A. solution, yes. A liquid substance, a very peculiar. It can absorb your memories, if you let it-but you have to be very careful using it. And very sparing."  
  
"Why?" Kevin laughed. "I don't see-"  
  
"And neither," Dumbledore replied grimly, "Did so many before you, thinking they could simply drop everything they did not want to know any more into the magical water. It is only to be used by the wise."  
  
Kevin sighed, and leaned back. "If I could, Headmaster, I would wash away all my memories-all of them. Just start new, like you said." He saw old scenes in front of his eyes once more. and shook them away. "I don't have any." Feeling tears grow in his eyes, Kevin cleared his throat and sat up. "I'd best be going now, Headmaster."  
  
Dumbledore, who had been watching Kevin quietly, nodded. "If you wish, Kevin. Remember, you can ask me about anything you want." His voice was quiet and soothing, but Kevin didn't even hear it. He was stumbling out the door, down the stairway. running down the passages back to his common room.  
  
Right outside of the tapestry, Kevin slowed down. He had to calm down, he'd make a fool of himself.  
  
Well, altogether, that had gone well. He didn't know there was a brew to remedy dreams, but it seemed there was after all. He breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
-Good luck haunting me now.-  
  
Smiling, he uttered the password and walked past the tapestry into the common room.  
  
  
  
A/Ns:  
  
Eternal thanks to my first (and second) reviewer, jinglefairy! I'm glad you like how the story is going. feel free to be ~critical~ because that's really what it's all about. Please comment on flaws you notice, thank you!  
  
I'm sorry about the crazy formatting problems. I'm going to try outlining thoughts with -s, and just not use italics in normal conversation. I'll go back and 'repair' the earlier story very soon, but right now I want to tie up at least a couple of loose ends, so the story doesn't sound so incredibly crazy.  
  
Another problem I realized was that Word is replacing all my ...s with a symbol that looks similar, but ff.net doesn't read, resulting in them being replaced by periods. Very bad. I'll try and fix this too, when I go over and fix the formatting problems. 


	8. Memories

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Eight: Memories~~  
  
Kevin laughed along with everyone else as Rauol and Jerry reported their success with their most recent exploit; terrorizing the caretaker's two dogs, from what he could hear over the laughter. The sound and the light were getting to his head, though; he was beginning to feel a bit dizzy. He stepped outside of the tapestry, and suddenly the sound was gone and no light came through. Peaceful dark.  
  
He walked over to a window, looking out across the snowy plains. The blizzard continued mercilessly as it had for so many hours after even the most trained weather wizards had predicted; some were calling it supernatural by now. Kevin thought it looked beautiful, and he was warm here inside the castle.  
  
"Like the view?" Kevin turned in surprise to see Julianne standing beside him, looking out the window also.  
  
"I noticed you were gone. You never stay around when there's a celebration going, Kevin. We miss you, you know." She smiled at him. "You're the unknown hero of that threesome's adventures."  
  
Kevin laughed at that. "No, Jerry is the plotter. I only help sometimes." He paused. "As for that-" He gestured back to the tapestry-"I don't really like loud noises and bright lights.  
  
"You're nocturnal," Julianne teased, nudging him with her elbow. "Learn to enjoy the sunlight more."  
  
They both laughed again. Kevin's thoughts wandered. Julianne was pretty. mysteriously so. Recently, he had found himself thinking about the way she looked more, noticing her pure diamond eyes, her wonderful smile, her soft voice. Kevin didn't understand, quite, but he tried not to think about it too much, unlike his carefree friends. He disliked change.  
  
She turned around, watching him watching her. He didn't look away. Her eyes were so perfect.  
  
  
  
Her eyes. The first time he had ever seen them-arriving at the school gates, and there she was, standing in the hallway, watching the new arrivals enter the castle.  
  
Her eyes. The last time he had ever seen them-starting back into his, desperate, terrified. Screams were everywhere, death all around him. Through some miracle, the two of them had been together, lived this long. but something hard and heavy fell onto him, crushing his leg; he lost touch of her hand. and the world faded into black.  
  
They just told him that no recognizable bodies had ever been found.  
  
Four friends, dozens of acquaintances, hundreds of human lives, thousands of dreams, and a million memories lost-what evil could destroy all that? Snatch it away in an instant?  
  
Fate could.  
  
  
  
Kevin awoke in a cold sweat. The old pain in his leg was back again, and worse then ever. It was late at night, the world was still dark.  
  
Of course. He had forgotten his potion before he slept, the first time in the five days since he had gotten it from Dumbledore. And this was his punishment. -Damn you,- he thought to his mirror-that was how he had come to think of the other him, the reflection. -Why don't you give up? I'm not going to surrender to the despair you're trying to bring me to.-  
  
-I'm not making these dreams come to torture you, Kevin.- He started-- that was the first time it had addressed him by name. -You need to face your fears.-  
  
-What I need to do is kill you and kill my old memories. No, just the memories. that's what you are, too. Just a figment of my mind feeding off of painful thoughts.-  
  
There was a pause. -Even if you destroyed your memories, Kevin, you wouldn't be free. Free of me, but not free of your past, and your future.-  
  
And then it was gone. It could only speak to him when he was partially asleep, just after or before he drifted off to sleep. Dreams, he guessed, were its realm of power. An interesting discovery As long as he took the potion, he would be left alone. Everything would be normal.  
  
Nothing would be normal again without. them.  
  
With his face buried in his pillow, he wept.  
  
"Kevin, Krysten!" Lyra called out. She ran through the common room to where him and Krysten were sitting, helping each other with homework (actually, Kevin doing both their homework, but he didn't mind). "I just got the hang of the whole palmistry thing, it's really fun!"  
  
Krysten looked dubious, but Kevin smiled. "As long as you ignore everything that old fool Trelawney says, and don't read any books she recommends, it's great."  
  
Lyra laughed and sat down beside them. "Here." She set a book down on the table and propped it open with her right elbow. "Give me your hand. Krysten. ok, Kev then."  
  
Smiling to himself, Kevin held his hand out for Lyra to examine. He remembered how interested he had been when he had found out how affective different forms of Divination were, back in his first year.  
  
"...and you have a very short life line, here." She smiled at her book. "But don't think that means you won't live a long time... no, this is interesting, here. Oh, I'll have to look that up." She released his hand. "Well, you are powerful and confident," she noted. "That's all I've really found out, yet... I'm still learning."  
  
"I know," Kevin said. "It's fun, though. You'll like it, I'm sure."  
  
She raised her eyebrows. "You know Divination? I thought you were just as far as I was."  
  
"Oh." Kevin mentally chided himself yet again. "I, uh, did a lot of Divination work back home."  
  
"That's nice," Krysten replied. "Your parents must both be magical, then?"  
  
-No harm in telling them about them, really. There's no connection.-  
  
"Yeah, they were. My father was actually the last remnant of an ancient pureblooded magical family; ancient, but maybe one of the least regarded ones ever."  
  
Lyra, who had leaned forward to listen, didn't seem to notice his use of the past tense; Krysten did, however. She frowned. "Er-- what happened?"  
  
"They were murdered." Kevin grimaced. "There was a Wizard's Council in the city we lived in, they monitored magical activity in the area. It turned out they were all supporters of... him... they had never acted when he came into power, but when word came around that he had been defeated..."  
  
"I'm so sorry, Kevin," Krysten said quietly.  
  
"It's fine. I was only a baby-- I had barely been born when it happened. I've been told a lot about them, but I can't remember them. I just have a few pictures."  
  
Kevin suddenly noticed that Lyra's eyes were hazy with unshed tears.  
  
"Lyra?" He and Krysten asked simultaneously. Krysten continued, "What is it?"  
  
"I'm sorry," The blond-haired girl sniffed. "Selfish of me." She wiped her eyes on a silk handkerchief, looking away.  
  
Kevin didn't know what to say; he had always been awkward in situations like this. Krysten, shooting Kevin a quick smile, took Lyra by the hand and they walked off to the girls dormitories, whispering to each other.  
  
  
  
A/Ns:  
  
Sorry, another short chapter. I just didn't want to put more content into this chapter, I don't think it needed it. This one should have been more readable. Thanks! 


	9. Queathil

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Nine: Queathil~~  
  
Kevin woke early, as usual. No dreams had disturbed his sleep; he had not forgotten to take the potion since his nightmare six days before. Pleasant thoughts filled his mind as he dressed and headed downstairs. It was a light day; the planned Divination class had been cancelled by Prof. Trelawney for some reason. He had plans to fill up that time.  
  
An hour later, he was in the library, looking over the titles of books systematically. He had found a few references to books of uncommon enchantments-- he wanted to find out what was binding the mysterious gold- bound tome he still had, and how to break the spell.  
  
"Ah, here we are," Kevin muttered, as he picked out a copy of 'Weird Wanda's Hungarian Hexes'. "Only two more."  
  
Looking only at the bookcase as he searched for the next title, he didn't realize another person was looking in the same row until they both reached for the same book. He turned in surprise to see Evelyn standing next to him.  
  
"Oh-- oh, hello." Evelyn put on a smile, a fake one, unless Kevin was losing his touch at reading faces. "You were looking for this book?" She held it up in her hand, a volume labeled 'Breaking Powerful Spells'.  
  
"Yes, actually, I was." A similarly fake smile flickered on Kevin's face. "Why would you be wanting it?"  
  
"Why would you?"  
  
Dropping the pretense, he rebutted coldly "Ladies first."  
  
"Oh. Thank you." Evelyn slipped the thin book inside the folds of her robes. "I was hoping you would say that."  
  
"Not-- you-- ah, whatever. Take it." Kevin shrugged. "Anyways, I've been looking for you. I had a few questions to ask you."  
  
She looked honestly surprised at that. "What?"  
  
Noticing other students in the library, Kevin muttered "Not here. Somewhere were we won't be heard."  
  
Evelyn raised an eyebrow in a mocking manner.  
  
-She has sneering down to an art, and in different forms, too,- Kevin thought to himself. "Look," He snapped, "I know a few things that might get you in a little bit of trouble, if they happened to slip out of my mouth. I suggest you follow." Not looking behind him, he turned around and walked out of the library, up the marble staircase and into a side-hall. After a short pause, he heard footsteps following him.  
  
He turned around once they were in a considerably remote spot, and began speaking the lines he had prepared along the way.  
  
"I know of you and your two friends were in the library a bit after hours a number of days ago, looking for a book."  
  
Evelyn's jaw dropped. It was surprisingly satisfying to see someone so self- confident look so stunned. He began improvising, hoping he sounded sufficiently sure of himself.  
  
"I have suspicions as to what you may be looking for, and I may have it, but I'd like you to tell me exactly what it is, before I help you."  
  
Evelyn first seemed shocked. Then despair flickered across her face... followed by... anger. Not what Kevin had wanted.  
  
"I have a proposition for you, then," She spat at him. "You tell me exactly what you have, and I don't hurt you."  
  
Kevin snorted, "Excuse me? You're not intimidating any... one..."  
  
He broke off there.  
  
Evelyn was holding her hand up in front of her face, and seemed at first to speaking to it. But then Kevin heard a hissing sound... and a thin, green and black snake emerged from her sleeve, coiler around her hand, flicking its tongue at Kevin.  
  
"To rephrase what I last said," Evelyn continued, looking more angry by the second, "You will tell me exactly how you know what you know, what exactly you do know, AND what you have."  
  
Panicked, Kevin looked around fast. The corridor ended in a door, but it was padlocked on the outside. Evelyn was blocking his path out.  
  
Suddenly, all around then, darkness fell.  
  
He heard Evelyn's cry of surprise, but didn't stop to think himself. He bolted past, shoving her aside as he ran. But her snake somehow jumped onto his hand-- he stopped, raising his hand over his other shoulder to dash the vermin against the wall.  
  
"No!" he heard from behind him. He froze.  
  
Evelyn emerged from what seemed to be a globe of dark, her eyes wide with new fear. "Please..."  
  
-Why hasn't the damn thing bit me already?- He wondered quietly. -It has had every chance to.-  
  
After a few seconds that seemed like hours, he lowered his hand. The snake slithered off and plopped onto the ground. It shot across the floor to Evelyn, slipping up into her robes. He noticed her hand moving slowly to her chest, patting something.  
  
"How did you do that?" She asked quietly.  
  
Kevin still had half a mind to turn and run. Any second year student who kept a snake on their body couldn't be completely sane. Still, he didn't. He paused, thinking, and then replied.  
  
"I didn't do anything."  
  
"Look!" She shouted, sounding panicked. "That... dark spot, it didn't just happen to appear there."  
  
It was odd. A small area of the hallway where they had been had just turned pitch black. It didn't make any sense, but Kevin somehow felt she was right; it had been him who had caused it.  
  
"I don't know how that happened," he said slowly.  
  
"You didn't say anything, use your wand... that's not how magic works!" She answered. "It's just... not..."  
  
"What is that snake?" Kevin interrupted. "I don't recall it being normal to have snakes in your robes. Not among non-Slytherins, at least."  
  
"It's my..." She stopped. "Wait. Why are we talking?"  
  
Kevin puzzled over that for a second. Hadn't she just threatened him? Then again, he had first. "I believe," he answered, "It's because we came to a stalemate."  
  
"No," Evelyn responded in a barely audible tone. She seemed to be contemplating something as she talked. "It's because Queathil didn't bite you."  
  
"Queathil?"  
  
"'That snake'."  
  
"Now that is because he had more common sense then you. It's not regular for first years to die of lethal poison."  
  
"No!" She laughed. "It only would have hurt for a bit. I could have told you it was poisonous, though. Not sure what I planned on. I was angry."  
  
"Do you blackmail people often?"  
  
"Excuse me?" She looked at him incredulously. "You seem to have forgotten how this entire encounter started."  
  
"Oh. Right. Well, that wasn't... I mean..."  
  
Evelyn started to say something, then stopped, frowning. A second later, she asked in a quieter tone, "Would you like to talk somewhere? Perhaps we could discuss this as..."  
  
Kevin grinned, knowing what she didn't want to say. "Potential allies?" He offered.  
  
He wasn't sure why they had headed outside. It was a good day; the sun shined down through a sky only slightly blotted with clouds, and it was unseasonably warm. Still, Kevin never felt safe outside. It was too open.  
  
A few yards outside the gate, Evelyn asked "So, do you really know anything about that dark you conjured up?"  
  
"I'm not sure," He responded slowly. "I know that..." -Wait!- His common sense broke in. -What the hell are you doing? She's in another house; she was threatening you for information, and now ten minutes later, you're tempted to tell her what you didn't tell Dumbledore? Wake up, Kevin!-  
  
-Shut up,- His intuition responded curtly. Common sense, defeated, retreated moodily into the recesses of his mind.  
  
Clearing his throat, he continued "I know that I have some connection to darkness. It's odd-- I can't quite explain it-- but there's defiantly something unusual about how I seen so connected to it."  
  
There was a small pause, and then Kevin continued "You never answered my question. About the snake."  
  
"Queathil. Quay-eth-thil. You ever heard of Familiars?"  
  
"Yeah, but they aren't real-- just fairy tale things. At least, I thought so..."  
  
"He's mine. And, as you saw, he is very real. We are... very close."  
  
"How does it work?" Kevin asked. "Have you had him since you can remember?"  
  
He noticed they had arrived at one of the greenhouses. On instinct, Kevin tried the door; it was unlocked. He shot a questioning look at Evelyn.  
  
"I haven't heard they're off limits." She shrugged and opened the door. From somewhere inside, a crow cawed shrilly. Kevin poked his head inside and saw and crow-headed gargoyle, large and stone, flying around the entrance.  
  
Laughing, he hurried inside and Evelyn shut the door behind them. The gargoyle flapped back to it's perch above the door and froze in place. It looked surprising like a common stone statue, when it was immobile.  
  
"To answer your question," Krysten said, "No. I met him only a little more then a year ago, a little before I was enrolled at Hogwarts. I was walking in the woods, and he just came out of the underbrush. I suppose I knew there was something special about him when I looked in his eyes."  
  
"I was missing from home for two days. I don't remember how long it seemed, really; our thoughts were-- well, merging, I suppose. We... well, I don't know how to describe it without sounding stupid." She shrugged. "It's almost like we are one person now. We share thoughts."  
  
"That's amazing. I had no idea something like that was possible. Is he really as-- no offense-- intelligent as you are? I didn't think snakes had human intelligence.  
  
"I don't know about most serpents, but right now, he just told me that you had funny eyes."  
  
Kevin blinked. "Oh... they aren't that unusual. I've seen other people with black eyes."  
  
"I haven't," Evelyn said quietly. "But to be honest, I didn't notice until he pointed them out to me. Could you..." She began to move her hand out, but then stopped with a nervous smile. Kevin shrugged and turned his head so that they were looking directly at each other.  
  
Green eyes. She had deep green eyes. Something inside of him found this disappointing; Kevin couldn't place why.  
  
The moment the thought crossed his mind, Evelyn sighed and looked away. "I swear," she whispered, "That I almost saw what Queathil meant. But I didn't."  
  
After a few minutes of silence, Kevin spoke. "Evelyn, about this whole book business. What were you looking for?"  
  
She smiled. "You get the first question after all? Oh, fine. Gary, Sethin and I were looking for a volume we had promised to snatch for..." Suddenly, her face fell. "I can't... I need to go."  
  
Before Kevin could say a word, Evelyn had ran past him, back towards the greenhouse door. He called after her in surprise and chased her out of the greenhouse, but no further, merely watching her run across the lawn back to the castle. 


	10. Meeting

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Ten: Meeting~~  
  
  
  
Evelyn arrived a bit late for the meeting in the underhalls of the Slytherin common room. Vesk had already almost started his speech, and looked up in surprise and she entered.  
  
Only recently had Evelyn been accepted into these meetings. After Felar McShaln had been demoted, Gary had chosen her as his Second, and she had chosen Sethin has her Third. Of course, being the Second of the Seventh Circle group of the First Faction meant she had absolutely no influence on the orders and information that was sent from Hogwarts out to other groups around the world. Gary himself was hardly ever listened to, although Evelyn believed him to be the strongest personality of the group. If that fool Vesk would only be punished for his mistakes already...  
  
Evelyn sat down beside Gary at the west side of the circular table, silently handing him a single late report and keeping lesser important notes to herself, to shuffle through (if only to keep up a pretence of having a good reason to be around) as the meeting took place.  
  
Vesk cleared his throat a final time. "Ladies and gentlemen of the First Faction, I am pleased to welcome you to our seven hundred and eightieth weekly meeting."  
  
There was scattered applause. Evelyn vaguely remembered her time back in the Second Faction. There had been more trust and friendship there; here, in the First, competition for influence consisted of lies and treachery; it was so thick, you could almost breath it. And she felt so out of place-- the youngest member in both the First and Second factions by two years. And, despite what she had been told, she had only gotten in because of her heritage. What a perfect recipe for disaster.  
  
Vesk continued. "First and foremost on our news this week, of course, is the arrival of the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students. We know for a fact that at least two direct representatives of Durmstrang's--" He coughed- - "'High Power'. If any of you happen to encounter either of these delegates, I am sure you know how to behave, yes?"  
  
Scattered affirmative sounds from around the table.  
  
"Good. Now, approximately half the Durmstrang students will be... of our order... but that is no reason to assume all of them are. Keep our activities as secret as always."  
  
Scattered affirmative sounds from around the table.  
  
"Good. As for the Beauxbatons..." Vesk grimaced visibly.  
  
-What an ass,- Evelyn thought to herself. -He's setting himself up for the fall. I just wish he'd hurry it up a bit.-  
  
"...we don't know of a single loyal in their group."  
  
Scattered surprised sounds from around the table.  
  
"But don't be overly unfriendly." A short pause. "Now, as for other important matters, I have received a report that a first year Hufflepuff complained about seeing a Slytherin beating another student against a wall." There was a long, tedious pause-- everyone knew where to look, but nobody spoke.  
  
"Draco Malfoy, can you speak for your two Seconds?"  
  
-Malfoy has a strong personality, all right. He would be a true leader. But a leader for the wrong cause, in the end. He's... evil.-  
  
Malfoy cleared his throat and spoke. "I can not, will not, and would not in any circumstance say that any one word could describe Crabbe and Goyle as well as 'stupid'. I'm sure you have all noticed they are rarely preset at these meetings. Rest assured, friends, they will be punished." He looked slowly from one end of the table to the other, his lips turned up into a charming... charming, and so dark... smile.  
  
Vesk cleared his throat and drew attention back to himself. "Keep in mind that you are responsible for their mistakes, and this will not go unnoticed." He and Malfoy stared at each other, faces calm but eyes vicious, for a split second. Then Vesk broke away and continued.  
  
"I'd like to also note that, as always, even rumors-- no matter how far- fetched--are to be recorded completely and put in your reports."  
  
That was all. There was a few seconds of silence as the attendees waited for Vesk to continue, but he didn't go on. The head of the First Circle-- Aven Rahnall-- stood, walked over to Vesk, and handed him a few pieces of paper clipped together. As he sat, the head of the Second Circle stood, and handed in his reports.  
  
It went down the line, up to the Seventh Circle. Gary moved over to Vesk and gave him a single document; a compilation of the information he had received from Evelyn and his own personal contacts over the week, the ones he deemed important enough to go to the head of Faction. Just as Vesk would compile all the information from his Circles, and give the important information to the Serpent Robe-- their great leader at Hogwarts, the one who decided exactly what went out of the school... directly to another, even higher power.  
  
Or he would, if the higher power was here. But the Dark Lord had fallen, and not returned.  
  
Gary and Evelyn met a few hours later in the Slytherin common room. It was almost midnight and very few were out of bed; their talk went unnoticed.  
  
Evelyn was anxious about something, Gary could tell that instantly. The large sixth-year boy had been a good friend to her since the day she arrived. He had explained how things worked around the Slytherin house-- the laws of survival.  
  
Laws she still hated to this day.  
  
"What's worrying you, Ev?"  
  
Evelyn shivered, despite the fire roaring in the hearth. She didn't answer immediately, but just stared into the flames. Gary knew she was trying to think of what to say, and he didn't rush her, but sat back and watched.  
  
"I... I met someone. He scared me."  
  
Gary blinked several times. "You ran into Draco Malfoy and his gang?"  
  
Evelyn snorted. "No, no. I know where he'll be every day, I avoid him. It was..." She broke off with a sigh. "You'll think I'm an idiot, Gary. It was just a first year."  
  
After a few seconds of silence, Gary answered "Well, I won't know what else to think if you don't explain yourself."  
  
"It was a Ravenclaw. I'd met him once before, and he seemed, well, normal. But... he ran into me in the library. He told me he knew things that could... get me in trouble... knew I was looking for a book. It was nothing, of course. I should have just told him to go pester someone else. He can't land me in any kind of trouble by telling Filch that I was looking for a book after hours, with no evidence."  
  
"But you didn't?"  
  
"No. Like I said, he scared me. I don't know why, it's... stupid."  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Well, I brought... er... he led me to an empty corridor to talk, and I worked up enough nerve to pull the old Queathil-scares-information-out-of- him trick. Stupid of me, someone could have been watching, I didn't even look. I don't know what I was thinking."  
  
"And then it was dark. He just... conjured up darkness out of nowhere, all around us. Scared the shit out of me, really did," She laughed, ignoring Gary's indignant sound at her language. "Anyways, he grabbed Queathil... grabbed him..."  
  
Gary sucked his breath in sharply. Evelyn looked down, not wanting her older friend to see tears of shame and fear in her eyes. She continued.  
  
"Queathil didn't bite him. He just wouldn't. I kept telling him to, and he just said he couldn't. He still doesn't understand it, and neither do I. The boy... he almost dashed him against the wall." Evelyn was fighting hard against tears, now. "And..."  
  
Evelyn leaned forward and cried silently on Gary's shoulder. He patted her back, not saying a word, frowning in thought. After a few minutes, he slid one arm under her knees and picked up her in his arms.  
  
"Gary!" Evelyn laughed through her tears. "What..."  
  
But as quickly as he had picked her up, he set her down by the fire, right next to the brick hearth. He knew she liked laying by the fire like that-- although how he had found out, she couldn't tell-- and she was grateful. He sat behind her, brooding. Evelyn would have been embarrassed, angry, indignant-- if this was anyone but Gary. He was like the older brother, the protector, she had never had.  
  
After a few more minutes, he asked a question. "How did you and Queathil get away?"  
  
"We didn't get away. He let Queathil go... I asked him too, and he did."  
  
Evelyn felt Queathil move from his resting place close to her heart, slipping out of her shirt and slithering over to Gary. She laughed and turner her head, watching the small serpent tease Gary, playing hide-and- seek with him. Queathil's happiness flowed through their mental connection, gladdening her, just as he took the burden of half her sadness.  
  
"And what happened then?" Gary asked. He wasn't as grim now, still trying to catch Queathil in his hands, as the snake dodged aside.  
  
Evelyn waited a bit to answer. Gary stopped, moving over beside her in front of the fire, and Queathil slithered back to Evelyn, nuzzling her hand affectionately. She absent-mindedly stroked his head with her forefinger and she talked.  
  
"We talked a while. I don't know why, but just as he made me scared, he just..." She looked away, feeling herself blushing. "He made me feel happy. I told him things I've only ever told you-- It's like--" She stood up, angry. "It's like I have to feel whatever he's feeling. Like when we're near, there's a bond, almost as strong as the one Queathil and I share."  
  
Gary just leaned back, smiling. Evelyn knew him well enough to know he was thinking other thoughts, behind that amused mask, but she didn't say anything. "Are you sure..." He began. Evelyn raised an eyebrow at him as she held Queathil in her hands, waiting for him to finish. He laughed, looked away at the fire, and ended "Are you sure you just haven't fallen for the poor hapless kid?"  
  
Evelyn laughed, sitting on one of the sofas near the fire. "Very funny, Gary. It's different. Very different. Not a stupid childhood crush, I know what those feel like." She shivered. "When you're away from someone you like, you're supposed to miss them, right? And love to be around them?" She shook her head. "I'm terrified of him right now, Gary. Terrified."  
  
Queathil, as if emphasizing her point, stood up his full length in her hand and hissed loudly, before retreating back down into her hand.  
  
Gary sighed. "Well, I'll always be here, Evelyn. Remember." He patted her on the shoulder and walked up into the boy's dormitories, yawning. Evelyn stayed down by the fire for almost an hour afterward.  
  
  
  
A/N:  
  
There you have it, the hardest chapter to write (and probably the worst in result) is finished. I spent several hours on it, and then several more in touch up. Don't get me wrong, I type very fast, and I loved how the scene was in my head, but... well, I don't know.  
  
I suppose it's just hard for me to write from Evelyn's POV. She's a character I understand, but she's very different from me, and in a very bad situation. The writing 'flowed' (I'm sure you guys know what I mean, although my non-writer friends don't), but in reading it I'm beginning to regret trying to get it onto paper.  
  
If anyone has suggestions as to how to make the scene more natural, or perhaps just flames (normally I'll retaliate, but on this chapter I think I deserve them), please do comment.  
  
I'll hurry this author's note up before I change my mind and delete it.  
  
  
  
(Warning: Looong part ahead! It's all in reply to Ara-chan's review.)  
  
I just got a review alert email, ~THANK YOU~ Ara-chan, Goddess of the Cup of Insanity!!!! I am much honored to receive such a well thought out review, thank you for taking the type to type it out.  
  
First off, I have just looked back on my writing and find that 'silk handkerchief' looks very clunky too. Ah, my kingdom for a beta reader! Oh well. Thanks for pointing it out. I'll bulldoze it when I 'polish up' the chapters.  
  
Classes... yes, I meant to include more. I'm sorry. This is because that around the Chap. 5-6 area, there was a break in my writing (half a year) and my style and view have changed considerably. I'm going to be going back and 'fixing' all the other chapters, when I feel I've gotten far enough along. But I've learned the hard way that it gets one nowhere to constantly try and perfect work. I do have another excuse, though! I'm writing this from Kevin's POV-- more recently then before chapters 5-6-- and since the raven and the dreams got worse, with memories of his old friends, he's been going around in more of a trance. See, an excuse :-)... well, I didn't say it was a good one, did I?  
  
The very reason I don't like looking up words is because I don't like going overboard. As you have seen, my vocabulary is limited especially in certain areas where I would much rather use different words. Sometimes I use Microsoft Word (I hate myself using it)'s Thesaurus feature to find a better word, but only when I absolutely need to. It's embarrassing and annoying when you look back on writing you previously thought turned out well and realize it's filled with unnecessary 'fancy words', half of which don't exactly mean what you thought they did. I tend to rely on reading to reveal new words to me; I tend to read rather.. hmmm. Well, suffice to say I read a lot. Nevertheless, I will start using the online dictionary more; thank you for pointing that out.  
  
The raven? Now that is something I can safely say I have under total control :-). I'm writing from Kevin's POV, as I mentioned before-- he's trying not to think about it at all. He wants it to go away. I did mean to slip in something somewhere to show it was an unusual wound-- I'll say right here that it's not opening, but it's not really healing either. More to come.  
  
No, Kevin didn't really want to meet Potter. Surprising as this may seem, I think it makes sense-- he's from the U.S.A, so he hears less Potter- news around there, and with recent events he has had a lot less care for such things. And, as all 4 books imply, the Ravenclaws and Gryffindors are not only not on very good terms, but they also hardly ever meet. Then again... well, I'll give it more thought.  
  
I'll try to get more student stuff happening. Thanks for the tip. It does seem a bit... dry, at parts.  
  
As for the Tri-Wizard Tourney... The delegations haven't arrived yet! Sorry for not supplying dates. It's a bit amusing that I got this review right now... well, come chapter eleven you'll see. I really don't understand what you mean about quidditch, considering the important parts were cancelled, and first years can't play, and Kevin isn't at all a fan-- it's really the least interesting thing in the world to him, given the circumstances. Perhaps excepting Prof. Binns. Perhaps I have been leaving it out a bit too much, though... I was just tipped off, because I realized I didn't even have the word included in my spell-checker's custom dictionary. What a shock.  
  
My writing better then yours? That's not fair! I can't compare them, the review is anonymous, so I can't fairly reply that 'no, yours is better'. Because I do think it is. You are a good critic and clearly have writing experience. I'd love to see your work. Thank you very much for the compliments.  
  
's' problem. Hmm. I can't place right now what you mean... perhaps, if you ever write again, you could explain. Of course, I'm sure there is some 's' problem with all the other ones going on, but it might be a personal mistake of mine.  
  
Just in case you mean that I don't say: 'Kevin watched all the wizard's walk around', I am right about that. It is 'wizards' not 'wizard's'. This common mistake (which is painful to read) is growing more and more widespread; it's really quite annoying. Just in case you DID mean that, which you probably didn't :-).  
  
Again, thank you very much for taking to the time to write that review. 


	11. The Day Before

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Elven: The Day Before~~  
  
The 29th of October dawned gray and misty. It was the day before the delegations from the other schools arrived, and the entire school was abuzz with rumors and excitement. Kevin's interest was piqued, but he had other things on his mind that day. Not Evelyn; he had given up trying to get her to talk to him again. Not the book, either; he had also given up trying to get it to open. No, the 29th of October was the first anniversary of death. Death itself, as Kevin saw it.  
  
He hadn't even remembered the exact day, when it had happened. He had heard it, later, but the date wasn't something he had tried to remember. But when he had woken that morning, light rain drizzling outside and a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, he remembered.  
  
For some reason, it sickened him that he had taken a dose of the potion the night before. He was at war with himself: one side said that he wasn't honoring the memories of his friends; he was trying to forget them completely, and the other stubbornly persisted that there was no reason to remember, and especially no reason not to take the potion. But guilt about forgetting his friends had risen anew, stronger then ever, on the anniversary of their death.  
  
He ate breakfast in a kind of haze, still arguing with himself, already exhausted in his mind. The misty sky that the enchanted ceiling imitated seemed to reflect his thoughts, confused and hazy.  
  
Divination was his first class. It wouldn't be hard, he figured, to sit down and wait it out. His thoughts stopped whirling after a few minutes of sitting, listing to, or rather ignoring, Professor Trelawney's monotonous speech on palmistry. His thoughts wandered. The mist seemed to be seeping into the room from outside, filling it up, muffling out sounds, slowing thoughts...  
  
-Hello again, Kevin.-  
  
The same place, the same rock drifting in the mists. His mirror stood on the opposite side, staring back at him as always. At a few places, the rock was crumbling away, eroding as Kevin watched.  
  
-I should have guessed,- Kevin spat at him bitterly, speaking in his mind. -What better time for you to torment me.-  
  
-I'm not going over that again.- There was a pause. Then... -You missed something.-  
  
-What do you mean?-  
  
-You missed a chance. There are few people, Kevin, who have the power and the will to help you. You've already found one or two. Seize the chance.- His mirror raised his hand and clutched it into a fist to emphasize his point.  
  
-I don't know what you're talking about.- Kevin looked off into the mists groggily, vaguely wondering if he had the willpower, in this strange place, to jump off into the swirling black clouds.  
  
-You should. You're too shielded, Kevin. How will you ever find help if you shut everyone out?-  
  
It did seem tempting. It probably wouldn't be painful in this dreamworld, and it would end the nightmare.  
  
-LISTEN TO ME!-  
  
The voice began with a deafeningly loud noise, blasting into his mind, and then slowly faded. Kevin, shocked, stepped back. -Yes... yes, I'm listening...-  
  
-About time. Now, remember what I'm saying. You're in danger. From more then one enemy. You face two nemesis-- one will attack your mind, and one your physical self. One is your true enemy, and the other does not yet regard you as a foe. Beware them both.-  
  
-Why can't you stop speaking in riddles?- Kevin asked angrily. -Just tell me what you mean, straight out!-  
  
-I only know what you know, Kevin. Your thoughts, your memories, and everything you once knew and have now forgotten. Every instinct and insight, emotion and sense. That, and nothing more.- The final sentence was tinged with sarcasm.  
  
-More riddles, damn you.-  
  
-It's surprisingly hard to make aware to a person what he already knows.- There was more then a touch of sarcasm to that.  
  
Kevin tried to calm himself. -Fine, then. What did you mean... about a chance? Can't you be even slightly more explanatory?-  
  
-Evelyn.- His mirror called. -You need her. She is a means to an end, the end of your own nightmare. Don't let her go. Remember.- The other him raised his hand...  
  
He was falling...  
  
"Rashall? RASHALL!"  
  
Kevin started, opening his eyes and jumping up. Trelawney was standing, frowning, in front of him. "Did you hear a word I said?"  
  
"Uh... no." His mind was clear, now. Everything around him was clearly perceivable-- in contrast with his former grogginess, he suddenly felt perfectly alert.  
  
Trelawney was staring daggers at him. "Ten points," She said sternly, "From Ravenclaw. For foolish behavior in class."  
  
Biting his lip, Kevin looked back down at his notes, and continued copying what Professor Trelawney was telling the class.  
  
After dinner that night, Lyra pulled up a chair to watch Stewart and Kevin play another game of chess. Kevin was on white for the first time; he figured a change might help him win, for once. If either of them noticed his unusually good mood, they didn't comment.  
  
Kevin began losing the game after the sixth move. Well, perhaps he had been losing from the start, but he hadn't noticed until then. Stewart finished the last of his pieces off quickly, sending his queen on a rampage inside his inner defenses. Kevin made yet another mental note about chess; you had to make your defenses work both ways. Easier said then done, he thought to himself, and Stewart finally checkmated Kevin's king with his queen and remaining bishop.  
  
"Er... guys?" Lyra asked.  
  
"What?" Stewart and Kevin both asked, turning.  
  
"It's a bit stupid, but I've never played chess, and it looks interesting..."  
  
"Oh." Stewart sighed. "Well, I've got loads of studying to do for that Transfiguration test, but do you a few free minutes, Kevin?"  
  
Kevin shrugged, smiling. "All my homework is done... sure, I'd love to." He turned to the chess pieces, which were halfway through the process of flipping the chess board so they could fold it up and put it away. "Guys... er, back on the board."  
  
The White troops were very glad at another chance of victory, and the King began yelling heartening words to his troops as they marched into place. Stewart moved off to the other side of the common room to read up for the test, and Lyra sat down in the wicker chair, surveying her pieces with a look of interest on her face.  
  
Kevin began explaining the game to Lyra. "What you want to do is checkmate the enemy king. You can't capture him, but you need to make it so that no matter what he does, including staying on the same spot, he's in threat of being captured. Now..."  
  
Krysten spotted them and pulled up a chair. She was carrying a large scroll, a quill, and a bottle of ink. "Chess is fun," She commented, "But I'm awful at it... I spend forever making my moves and they turn out to be bad ones anyways." She sighed and went back to writing.  
  
"What're you working on?" Kevin asked absentmindedly as he showed Lyra the way the knight could move.  
  
Krysten sighed. "Some Potions report... pretty easy stuff, really; I'm half copying from this book." She laughed. "Snape'll never notice."  
  
"I finished mine yesterday," Lyra added. "What's that you're copying from... oh, dear, I copied from that one too. Well, I do hope he won't notice. He'll think one of us is copying the other." She sighed. "Not as bad as McGonagall's Transfiguration test, though... and so early, too."  
  
Kevin nodded. "She's making sure we've been listening all month-- Oh my, no, the king can only move one space in any direction!"  
  
Krysten finally capped her ink jar and began rolling her scroll up, just as Kevin and Lyra began a practice chess match. "That's done," she said. "I think that's all I had for today... good, maybe I can get a bit of rest."  
  
"G'night!" Kevin called after her, grimacing as Lyra's pawn decapitated his. The battle had begun, and all the pieces on the board knew it; as the body of Kevin's pawn, carrying it's severed head, walked off the board, all the other moved into battle positions.  
  
"Oi! You!" Called Lyra's remaining rook a half hour later. "Move me down two spaces, and he won't stand a chance..."  
  
-Oh, darn,- Kevin thought. -WHY did I follow that knight's advice in the early game? Stupid thing ruined me...-  
  
That it had. Kevin found himself laughing as he finally resigned at the loss of his last capital piece. Lyra raised her eyebrows quizzically.  
  
"It's just... sorry." Kevin cleared his throat. "You're a natural. I can't believe you beat me on your first game... good job."  
  
Lyra blushed. "It was just the pieces ordering me around, not the other way. Besides, it was that knight's bad advice that made you start losing..." She pointed to the culprit, who appeared to be trying to sink like a turtle into his armor under Kevin's steely glare.  
  
"You noticed too, huh... well, remind me to play black next time."  
  
The moon was very clear that night. Kevin didn't feel a bit tired, as usual, but stayed up in the dormitory instead of roaming the school; unusually. The last thing he needed was to get in trouble the night before the delegations from the other schools arrived. He contented himself with staring out at the moon, watching as it moved sluggishly across the sky. It fascinated him.  
  
It was half past one when Kevin heard something on the stairs leading down from the dormitories. He didn't turn around immediately, still watching the moon. The person behind him spoke first.  
  
"What are you doing down here this late?" Kevin turned. It was a girl he didn't know, who looked like a forth or fifth year. She was dressed in a thick blue nightdress, watching Kevin with a look of confusion.  
  
"Oh, I was just staying up a bit late... studying." He grabbed a book from the pile Stewart had been studying from and held it up for her to see.  
  
The girl shrugged. "Couldn't sleep, that's all. Normally nobody is down here this time of night." She blinked once, and then added, "At least, I thought so."  
  
Kevin smiled. "I just stayed down a bit late tonight."  
  
The girl sighed. "Yeah... hey, I think I know you. You're one of the new Ravenclaws--" She frowned at that. "You look older, though."  
  
"Nope, I'm a first year." He held out his hand. "Kevin Rashall. Nice to meet you."  
  
"Right-- Rashall." The girl shook his hand, smiling back. "Cho Chang. We don't get as many new students in Ravenclaw as some of the other houses, I should have met you already. My fault." She shrugged guiltily.  
  
Kevin wasn't sure what to say after that. She didn't seem to either. After a few seconds, he said "I don't want to be more tired then I already will be for tomorrow, so I better get to bed." Kevin waved; Cho Chang didn't seem to see, already staring out the window he had been looking out of a moment before. Kevin shrugged to himself and ran up the stairs to the boy's dormitories.  
  
Once there, he walked over to the bed and picked up the bottle containing the potion Dumbledore had given him, uncapping it and placing a glass on the nightstand. But when the first drop hit the bottom of the glass, he began to argue with himself--  
  
-Why take it tonight? Haven't you resigned yourself to going through with what your... mirror... has been trying to get you to?-  
  
-Just this last night. I can't have nightmares just before the big day tomorrow.-  
  
-What'll your excuse be tomorrow night?-  
  
-If you can't give me a sensible rebuttal, then shut up.-  
  
The second drop hit the bottom of the glass.  
  
-Okay then, how about this. He may have something important to say-- tonight.-  
  
Side one thought for a few seconds before replying. -I just talked to him today. He won't.-  
  
-In that case,- Side two shot back triumphantly, -He won't give you any memories tonight. He'll only show you what he needs to, remember?-  
  
The third drop splashed onto the glass, as side one continued--  
  
-I don't think-- - But his thoughts were broken off--  
  
The raven cut on his arm began to throb--  
  
The potion bottle dropped to the floor--  
  
Kevin stifled a yell, grasping his left arm. Pain was radiating from the raven-shaped wound on his upper arm, flowing out in waves. The shattered pieces of the potion bottle lay on the floor at his feet. It hadn't hurt like this since he had been talking to Lyra that night a while back...  
  
The pain was growing stronger. It felt like his arm was being immersed in searing flames, in boiling water... and then it stopped.  
  
Gasping for breath, Kevin pulled his shirt off and turned his arm so he could see it. The wound was faintly glowing, although the light was fading. All signs of healing were gone-- it looked fresh. Or did it?  
  
On closer inspection, he noticed that it was no longer an open wound, just a red line across his skin, like an old scar-- the red glow was completely gone now. It stood out like a crude tattoo on his arm.  
  
-What's happening?- Kevin thought, his mind racing. -He said it was just 'a reminder'... why this?-  
  
He knew the only answers he would get would be in sleep.  
  
  
  
A/N:  
  
This chapter 'flowed' considerably more. However, with the approaching release of the second LoTR movie, and with the next Wheel of Time book drawing nearer, I'm getting drawn into those worlds and out of the Harry Potter one. I'm sure I'll speed up again after I see LoTR :-).  
  
Last Boy on Earth-- thank you for pointing out my weak spots; so few people take the time to do that... anyways, I don't know why I didn't realize that embarrassing mistake before, but thanks again for pointing that out especially ;). It makes me want to go 'polish up' the whole story before continuing... but that would be folly.  
  
Additional thanks to everyone who has reviewed! I wouldn't have continued writing if not for you. I don't write to get reviews, but reviews certainly help me write, especially ones which point out both the good and bad. 


	12. The Delegations

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Elven: The Delegations~~  
  
Evelyn let out a sigh of relief as she left the Potions class to head out for the lawn. If it hadn't been cut off early, Professor Snape would have surely noticed the odd green plants that has begun to grow out of her cauldron. And although he despised taking points from Slytherin, she wondered what else he could do to punish her; she was awful at potions, and he had been giving her nasty glances all class long.  
  
She didn't have much time to dwell on it, however, as she got in line with the other students moving out onto the large grassy lawn. Quite unlike yesterday, the sky was clear and the stars shone brightly down on the green field. Evelyn absentmindedly rotated the silver ring on her finger back and forth, scraping her skin.  
  
As the students lined up on the lawn, Professor Snape began watching them closely, looking for any small mistake in their dress, perhaps a loose shoelace or an unpolished wand. He passed by Evelyn without comment; she had spent hours preparing and didn't have anything for him to criticize. Nevertheless she was nervous. She couldn't help but wonder which students from Durmstrang were followers of the Dark Lord. Like her.  
  
She winced as the thought passed through her mind. She didn't have a choice! No choice.  
  
She was snapped out of her reverie when Dumbledore called out "Aha! Unless I am very much mistakes, the delegation from Beauxbatons approaches!"  
  
-Where from?- Evelyn thought curiously, scanning the grounds. She couldn't make out much in the waning light, but she would certainly spot a group of Beauxbatons students, if she knew anything about how they liked to show off.  
  
"There!" Gary called out from a row ahead of her, pointing up. Up... Evelyn gasped. Something very large and very bright was hurtling towards them at dangerously high speeds. Surely they wouldn't arrive via comet... would they?  
  
"It's a dragon!" Someone screamed from the Hufflepuff group. Evelyn snorted and several other Slytherins called out rude comments to the first year.  
  
But all other comments spoken were lost to Evelyn's ears as the massive shape slowed it's decent, shooting only feet above the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, and came into view. It was a huge, blue, horse-drawn carriage-- emphasis on huge, Evelyn thought to herself as it came nearer. The horses pulling it were winged-- Pegasi! Evelyn stood up on tiptoe to get a better view as the carriage came lower, and then winced as the ground shook when the horse's hooves touched the ground.  
  
There was deafening roar as the horses slowed, and then stopped, and Evelyn wondered just how chewed up the ground would look afterwards. But then her thoughts were distracted, as someone was opening the carriage door, and out stepped...  
  
"It's a giant!" A Slytherin beside Evelyn whispered is disgust. Evelyn herself was shocked. The woman who had emerged from the carriage was massive, nearly as big as Hagrid, the gamekeeper.  
  
Slowly, applause broke out among the crowd, until almost every student was clapping. Almost. Evelyn noticed some of the older Slytherins were purposefully keeping their hands in their pockets, fixing dark stares of the large woman.  
  
The woman walked over to Dumbledore, and the applause slowly faded. Dumbledore smiled at her, and said "My dear Madam Maxime. Welcome to Hogwarts."  
  
Several students clapped when he said this, but it didn't catch on, and they quickly subsided.  
  
"Dumbledore," The large woman replied in heavily accented English, "I hope I find you well?"  
  
Evelyn noticed, as Dumbledore and Madam Maxime talked, that the Beauxbatons students were walking out of the carriage. There were ten, maybe more of them, more females then men, dressed in fine silk dress robes that looked like what Evelyn might wear to the fanciest ball of her life. They shivered as they walked over to behind Madam Maxime, glancing around themselves apprehensively at Hogwarts, the students, and the lake. Evelyn couldn't see one that looked in good humor.  
  
"...very well," Madam Maxime was saying. "Will you please inform this Hagrid that the horses only drink single-malt whiskey?"  
  
"It will be attended to," Dumbledore replied graciously. The conversation ended then, and Madam Maxime and her students hurried up the stone steps to the gates of Hogwarts, the Hogwarts students parting before them as they walked.  
  
Then the waiting for the Durmstrang students arrived. The night grew silent; only the occasional snort from one of the horses, and the quiet chirping of the crickets all around.  
  
Evelyn was watching the ground and sky this time-- she couldn't imagine anything more odd then the way the Beauxbatons students had chosen to arrive, but she was sure she was about to be shown something much more unusual. Not magnificent-- that wasn't Durmstrang's way-- but certainly unusual.  
  
For a long while, the silence continued, until suddenly a Gryffindor student called out "The lake! Look at the lake!". Evelyn did so, again having to stand on tiptoe to look over the heads of other, taller second years. And something was defiantly happening-- it seemed like the giant squid was suddenly swallowing all the water it could, from down below. The surface of the lake was moving swiftly inwards in a spiral, forming a whirlpool...  
  
And a mast emerged out of the whirlpool, a thin, ragged mast. Evelyn gasped as the full ship emerged from the swirling waters, sailing directly against the pull of the whirlpool, onto the surface of the water. It was a gleaming, almost ghostly ship, and the moonlight added to the sensation that it wasn't quite real. If not for the heads of the Houses constantly trying to keep their students silent, every young wizard on the lawn would be saying something about that magnificent ship.  
  
As the waters finally calmed completely, a ramp was let down from the ship, and the Durmstrang students slowly disembarked. Evelyn saw that they were all wearing thick furs; quite prepared for the cold, unlike the Beauxbatons students. Their headmaster was leading them, and Evelyn saw that he was thin, white-haired man as he stepped into the light of the castle.  
  
Evelyn didn't listen to the few words traded between Dumbledore and the Durmstrang headmaster, save learning that his name was Professor Karkaroff. She was instead watching the Durmstrang students, who, again in sharp contract of the Beauxbatons students, seemed to be very impressed by Hogwarts' tall spires and towering keeps.  
  
Strangely, Evelyn felt as if no time at all had passed as she walked back into the entrance hall with the other students. The Durmstrang were mainly following the Slytherin group into the castle, and Evelyn heard one of them utter a quiet 'wow' as they entered the majestic entrance hall of the castle.  
  
Halfway to the Slytherin table, Evelyn felt someone grab her arm. She turned around, surprised, to see Kevin-- Rashall-- standing there. He suddenly seemed to realize he was holding her arm and let go with an apologetic glance before talking. "Evelyn, I need to talk to you soon." His tone was determined, and he was looking her straight in the eye. Aware of what felt like thousands of eyes on her as the students passed by to go to their respective tables, Evelyn quickly replied, "Soon, fine. Later." Rashall glared at her. "Okay! Tonight!" She almost yelled. And breaking the contact of their eyes, she turned around and hurried to the Slytherin table, before a Durmstrang student took her spot.  
  
As it was, she found her place at the table was taken. Sighing, Evelyn scanned the table with her eyes for another place to sit, but the Durmstrang student politely moved aside and gestured for her to sit.  
  
"Thanks," She said gratefully as she sat down. The Durmstrang student was a tall, raven-haired boy with light blue eyes. He smiled and asked, "How is it here at Hogvarts? It seems vary grand."  
  
Evelyn passed a gravy dish along to the girl on her other side and replied, "Oh, it's nice. I wouldn't know where to start, of course, especially since I've never seen your school."  
  
"I am vary sorry. It vos an unfair question." The boy looked down at his plate despondently, crestfallen as a young child denied a promised treat, and Evelyn stared at him in mild dismay.  
  
"No, it's fine..." She said. And then, trying to cheer him up, she held out her hand and introduced herself. "Evelyn Sellina. Nice to meet you."  
  
The young man smiled back at her and replied, "Derst McAyle. And it is my pleasure." Like a young child, he seemed to have forgotten his former sadness, and now looked quite contented. Evelyn managed to cut the conversation short as he took a bite to eat, turning to the Durmstrang girl on her left instead. That boy was very odd.  
  
As if reading her thoughts, the girl whispered "He's a bit mad... vary brilliant, and vary, vary crazy sometimes. He is top of his class at all subjects."  
  
Evelyn raised an eyebrow. "Scary," She muttered. "So, what's your name?"  
  
"Elijya Vel. And you're Evelyn, I know. It's good to be here-- a velcome break from Durmstrang!"  
  
  
  
A/N:  
  
Once again, this chapter did not 'flow'. I tried rewriting it, but no luck; it's simply not something I am having inspiration for. As I write this review, however, I've written the two chapters ahead, so you can be assured I'm out of writer's block.  
  
The funny thing is, I've been reading Ed Greenwood's 'The Kingless Land' recently, and his old-fashioned Sword & Sorcery is so different from HP, it's laughable. Still, it offers some inspiration. Magic is such a fun thing to use in stories.  
  
As always, please review! 


	13. Secrets Shared

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Thirteen: Secrets Shared~~  
  
Kevin caught up with Evelyn before she left the great hall. Hearing his footsteps behind her, she turned around wearily and put her hands on her hips. "Ok. I give up, we can talk. I'll spare fifteen minutes."  
  
"The library?" Kevin asked shortly. Evelyn nodded, and they walked off into the dusty library and sat down at the nearest table. Kevin slid some student's abandoned homework aside and onto the floor and set his elbows on the table.  
  
There was a second of awkward silence, which Kevin broke. "So. Evelyn- - there is something very odd happening. With us-- I mean, you and I... er..."  
  
"Us." Evelyn said matter-of-factly. "It's just a word." Kevin blushed slightly, looking down at his hands, and Evelyn brooded for a few seconds. "Yes, I think I agree. The fact that Queathil didn't bite you, and still can't tell me why, proves there is something strange about you. Maybe..."  
  
"We do have one thing in common. I'm certain of that." Kevin stated. He looked up at Evelyn, his composure regained, his tone frank. "Secrets."  
  
"Yes... secrets."  
  
"Perhaps we should just tell each other something-- just a little at a time. Maybe we can get some answers."  
  
"I'd kill for answers right now." Evelyn looked up from petting Queathil on her lap and smiled. "Sure."  
  
Kevin cleared his throat. "I suppose I'm first. All right." -Take a deep breath, Kevin, you're fine. A little at a time, remember?-  
  
But he couldn't think of what to say. What first? He wanted so much to explain everything to her, to anyone, to share all the feelings that had tormented him for over a year now with someone who would listen and care. Anyone who would listen...  
  
"Evelyn," He said quietly. "I'm not supposed to tell you this. It's a secret. A big one. I could get expelled, I suppose, for telling you; maybe worse."  
  
"Worse?" Evelyn asked incredulously. "What the hell worse could you get then being expelled for telling me something? Oh-- sorry--"  
  
Kevin waved away her apology absentmindedly and continued. "I'm a student from another school. A school that no longer exists. It was destroyed completely in a... tragic accident... I was, as far as I know, the only survivor. I've heard there were others, but I don't know about that. Nobody I ever knew survived."  
  
Evelyn was scrutinizing him with a mix of suspicion and confusion. "What happened to destroy it?" She asked. It was obvious from her tone that she didn't believe this, not quite.  
  
Fighting back old memories that were desperately trying to resurface, take him over, Kevin answered. "Nobody quite knows... there was an earthquake, out of nowhere. All around the school. I think I..." He broke off. Suddenly, in his eyes, Evelyn looked different-- her eyes were diamond, her hair goldish-blond...  
  
Evelyn seemed to notice something was wrong; she leaned forward and touched Kevin lightly on the shoulder. He didn't respond, he merely rocked back on his seat slightly, mutter to himself-- his mind was trapped inside the same memory, looping over and over. Evelyn, worried at the lack on response, shook him hard on the shoulder.  
  
"NO!" Kevin yelled. He reached up with his hand and grasped onto Evelyn's so hard she was pulled forward slightly. "Don't let go-- don't..."  
  
Evelyn retracted her hand from his suddenly loose grasp and sat back down, keeping her eyes straight on him. He was looking away, blushing, his eyes glinting with tears.  
  
"Evelyn, I shouldn't have told you anything-- it's too much. Too complicated. I'm insane anyways," He added with a forced laugh. "They say that happens to survivors of traumatic experiences."  
  
"We're all a bit mad," Evelyn retorted. "And now that you have made a mistake and told me something, I want to know the whole story. I believe you." Kevin looked up, his face a mask of surprise.  
  
"But first I'll keep my side of the bargain. Kevin... have you ever heard of Death Eaters?"  
  
Returning to his normal self, Kevin shook his head. "Sounds like some vampire group. You're not into blood sports, are you?"  
  
Evelyn laughed along with him, but only shortly. "No... it's something much worse. I assume you've heard of the Grea-- the Dark Lord?"  
  
"Voldemort," Kevin replied quietly. "Insane wizarding murderer who was mysteriously defeated by the child Harry Potter. Don't know much more then that about him, although I certainly know he had supporters."  
  
"Yes, Voldemort. Most people are scared of the name. It brings back memories of the horror he caused in his reign. He and his people were responsible for so many murders, so much death and destruction..."  
  
"I know," Kevin said quietly. "My parents were murdered by some of his followers."  
  
Evelyn frowned. "I'm sorry, Kevin. You must have been... very young." She paused. "Wait! If you're only eleven..."  
  
"No," Kevin interrupted with a melancholy sigh. "I'm thirteen. And a half, if we're talking time-wise. It's part of my story. But you should continue yours."  
  
"Well, the term we use for the Grea-- Dark Lord's followers around here is Death Eaters. And that brings me to my point... Kevin, I'm a follower of Voldemort."  
  
Silence suddenly fell, as Evelyn uttered the final word. The only sound she could hear was her blood pounding, her heart beating louder and louder. She dared not look up-- she didn't want to see the look on Kevin's face. She supposed he might hex her, curse her badly...  
  
"Evelyn. I think I understand."  
  
Evelyn looked up. "Understand? You can't..."  
  
"Yes I can," Kevin interrupted. "You're a Slytherin. You are being forced somehow, some way, to follow the orders of real followers of the Dark Lord."  
  
"Yes." The sound was a whisper, but with only the sounds of their voices in the library, Kevin could hear it as clearly-- no, clearer-- as if she had shouted it.  
  
"In case you were wondering, I don't blame you at all."  
  
Evelyn looked up at him. It was her turn to try and blink back tears now. "How..."  
  
"You're not evil. I know that."  
  
"Aren't I?" She retorted sharply. "The Sorting Hat is never wrong, they say. And you know what? I consciously wanted to be in Slytherin when that hat was put over my head. I wanted to be important, 'cool'..."  
  
"People change. They mature, they grow to understand things they didn't before." Kevin interrupted once again. "Now anyways, I have another question for you. How can there still really be servants of the Dark Lord, if he is defeated?"  
  
Evelyn sighed. "Well... things collapsed after he died, I was told. But the network in the school was too perfect to sacrifice. Year after year, it stays, and the Serpent Robe-- the mysterious head of all the Death Eater activity at Hogwarts-- simply keeps the information he would normally send to the Dark Lord stored away, in case one day he returns." She sighed. "Gary... Gary and I think we might be able to change things. With no real Dark Lord to serve, the circles of... amateur Death Eaters... might be very easy to change. Change, weaken, and break."  
  
"So you don't really follow him," Kevin whispered.  
  
"I have to follow my orders though, Kevin. Whatever they are. And my recently acquired position is at stake because I have failed my most recent orders... orders to find a book-- that I suspect you have."  
  
Kevin looked up in surprise. "The book... of course! It makes sense. You with those two other students after hours, looking for the mystery book I have... yes, it fits."  
  
"Naturally."  
  
"Yes, naturally." Kevin sighed. "But what do we do about the book? I suppose if your position is at stake..."  
  
"I don't know," Evelyn mumbled. "I have other students' testimonies that the book is not to be found, so the blame isn't all on me. And if I have an excuse not to continue finding information for them..."  
  
"Right," Kevin said. "But what is it, anyways?"  
  
"I don't know. I wasn't told. But it's something of great importance-- Vesk was furious when I failed to find it originally, and he nearly demoted both Sethin and Gary when neither of them could help."  
  
"Odd," Kevin muttered. "All I know is, it's locked, and I can't open it with any spells. And I've searched the library through for any that might work!"  
  
"Well, I'm not handing it over to them," Evelyn said. "Maybe we can resolve the mystery together." She sighed and leaned back. "But I've told you my story now. Can you finish yours?"  
  
Kevin tried.  
  
He didn't remember the words he was saying, later. He only remembered recalling memories of his friends, the times they had shared, and the tragedy that had separated them. He found himself going on to how his 'mirror' haunted him at Hogwarts, what it had told him, and about the strange Raven scar on his arm. Finally, when he had nothing more to say, Evelyn and him talked of brighter things, such as Quidditch. They laughed for a while, sharing memories and thoughts old and new, like they were friends who had known each other for years.  
  
A beam of light from the window beside the table landed on Kevin's face, and he stopped suddenly and blinked in surprise. The sun was rising. They had talked all night. He suddenly became much more aware of everything- - he was holding Evelyn's hand, and they were on the same bench-- very close. He looked over at Evelyn in surprise, who looked back at him with a similar expression. He gulped at how close their faces were.  
  
"Uh... Evelyn... when did you..."  
  
"If I remember correctly," She said, biting back embarrassed laughter and looking away, "I moved over from the other stool when you were talking about... your friends. And you..." She looked back at him suddenly. "And you took my hand when I was talking about my first year here. And.. you... didn't let go..." She spoke those last words so slowly and quietly, and made them last so long, they seemed to echo around the dark-haired boy as he looked back at her.  
  
"Kev," Evelyn said quickly. "This is stupid; I'll regret it. But before the feeling fades, I want to..."  
  
She didn't get any further then that; the distance between then had been shrinking as she has been speaking, both of them moving ever so slightly closer, until finally his lips brushed hers. Their lips met in a slow, almost shy kiss. Kevin was only aware, just then, of the warmth that flooded his every sense, the wonderful sensation that everything was, and would be fine; Evelyn, in contrast, began feeling, hearing, sensing everything in perfect detail; the wetness of his lips, the stand of his hair that was brushing her cheek, and the strange feeling that she wasn't one person, but only half of one, and when they had kissed, she had found the other half.  
  
All too soon, it ended.  
  
A/N:  
  
Sorry for the lack of updates. I've been writing a lot-- I'm up chap. 16-- but I keep spotting problems and fixing them. I hope to update 14 for you soon :).  
  
I also found out a rather scary fact. I have more directories in my hard drive that begin with 'D' than all the other letters in the alphabet... *chuckles*  
  
Anyways, please do review!! ^_^ 


	14. Dragon and Serpent

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
~~Chapter Fourteen: Dragon and Serpent~~  
  
A/N: This chapter might be considered a bit of a higher PG-13 then the rest. A bit of possibly-child-unsafe content. The story itself will be getting a bit rougher as time goes on, but I don't ever plan to go up to R.  
  
As the entrance to the Slytherin common room closed behind her, Evelyn collapsed onto a large chair, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling, laughing. Laughing and crying.  
  
Her emotions were so mixed she couldn't image where to start sorting them out. She was happy-- no, exuberant-- but scared and embarrassed. She wouldn't have been more embarrassed if she had been forced to kiss Draco Malfoy in front of the entire school, including the teachers. Well, maybe that was an overstatement, but still...  
  
What had compelled her to kiss him, she didn't know. It was the same mysterious connection, she supposed, that had started it all. And while talking to Kevin had revealed many answers, the single question of what the connection, the bond was-- that had only grown in importance.  
  
Of course, he had kissed her back. -Typically,- She thought to herself with a mental sigh. -He's a guy, what did you think he'd do? And you aren't even attracted to him. What a waste of your first kiss.-  
  
Not even attracted to him... no, she wasn't. Not that she had been to many boys at all; the feeling of attraction to another person was a new one to her.  
  
-It was still wonderful,- A rebel part of her mind whispered into her thoughts. And it had been. No; she was just being foolish.  
  
Evelyn closed her eyes. She couldn't change what had happened, she had to cope with it. Pulling out her wand, she pointed the tip at herself, and said "Concinnus Coma!"  
  
Her hair suddenly shot up straight on her head, and then just as suddenly fell back down, this time neat and clean.  
  
-I swear I'll get to sleep as soon as dinner's over, if I can just make it through today without collapsing from exhaustion,- She thought to herself wryly. She wasn't feeling tired yet, but her limbs were beginning to ache from the final burst of energy her body had administered to keep her standing. Perhaps a little nap would be okay... it was only five in the morning, after all...  
  
"Well, well," A cold voice drawled. Evelyn's eyes shot open, the dream she had just been having suddenly broken into a million pieces that not even her memory could recover. She didn't need to see the blond boy sprawled on the chair opposite hers to know who it was.  
  
"Sleeping Beauty, eh?" Draco Malfoy continued. "What are we doing so early?"  
  
Evelyn was still exhausted. She couldn't have possibly had even ten minutes of sleep; she had just closed her eyes...  
  
"I could ask the same thing of you, Malfoy." Evelyn snapped back at him. "And where are your two clowns?"  
  
"No clue." Draco yawned. "And as for why I'm down here, it's to talk to you." His tone took on a malicious quality as he continued. "Vesk is very angry with your lack of results..."  
  
Evelyn expressed just what she thought Vesk should go do. Draco raised an eyebrow. "He won't be too glad to hear that, Sellina."  
  
"Like I care," She muttered, closing her eyes. "I'm tired. I'll deal with him later." She was too lethargic to think about the consequences right now.  
  
"You need to learn respect, girl!" Draco shouted, standing suddenly. "Respect to those better then you in every way imaginable. You are a pawn. You will follow the orders of--" He broke off there, looking around suspiciously. Evelyn risked a glance at the sun. It wasn't even fully risen. She had been right; she had barely closed her eyes!  
  
"You go tell Vesk what I told you," Evelyn snapped. "I'll talk to him later. Right now, I have my own business to attend to. Like getting some rest."  
  
She closed her eyes at that.  
  
It was several minutes before Draco spoke again. A new dream had already been forming in her head; half-awake, his voice seemed to mingle with her dream. Strangely, his tone had changed; the anger was gone.  
  
"You know Sellina-- Evelyn-- I've been thinking... you are getting... quite attractive, you know." Her insides seemed to turn to ice at that last statement. She forced herself to not open her eyes.  
  
"And the more I think about it, the more I wonder..." He was right next to her chair, from the sound of his voice. Evelyn was mentally calculating the distance to the door to the girl's dormitories, wondering how fast she could run to it. Draco Malfoy was not someone she ever wanted to be alone with. Ever.  
  
Before another word could come from his mouth, Evelyn grabbed from her wand, got up from her chair, and turned with her wand pointed at him.  
  
There was one problem.  
  
He was holding her wand.  
  
-Queathil!- She thought desperately. The serpent woke up instantly, slithering up her skin to her shoulder, where he perched, staring menacingly at the white-haired boy in front of Evelyn. Draco didn't look impressed.  
  
"If I were to acquire a snake bite," He mused, "I think I'd be angry enough to tell people where it came from..."  
  
"You're not scaring me, Draco. I have Queathil cleared with Dumbledore himself."  
  
"Not scared?" He asked. He was moving towards her; she was backing up, towards the dormitory wall. She hadn't moved when she had had the chance; he was blocking her path to the dormitory door. "Too bad."  
  
Suddenly, he raised his wand and pointed it at Queathil. "Impedimenta!"  
  
Queathil toppled off her shoulder, suddenly as solid as stone, hitting the floor with a muffled 'thud' sound. Through their mental connection, Evelyn could sense Queathil's anger thoughts at being disgraced in such a manner.  
  
"Give me my wand, Malfoy," Evelyn hissed. "Or you'll regret it."  
  
"I don't think so," He smirked. Evelyn was backed all the way against the dormitory wall; Draco continued slowly coming closer. Her thoughts were frantic; she had to escape somehow...  
  
Suddenly, he leaned forward, pinning her against the wall with his arms. Evelyn closed her eyes. -Please, gods, please help me...-  
  
"Malfoy!"  
  
Evelyn opened her eyes and looked at the speaker; Malfoy quickly removed his right hand and turned to see who it was.  
  
Gary stood there, staring without blinking at Malfoy. He held his wand out in his hand, pointing it straight at Malfoy's face.  
  
"Skarl." Draco snapped. He looked annoyed, staring defiantly back at Gary, but Evelyn could tell he was nervous. "Sellina and I were just having a little chat."  
  
Evelyn, suddenly feeling much braver, shoved Draco back with a punch to the chest and quickly stepped out of his reach.  
  
"Get out of here, before I curse you to hell and back," Gary said quietly. "And if I have my way, you'll be serving detentions for eternity."  
  
"Well," Draco said, trying to sound nonchalant. "That's fine, then. I'll just go get Crabbe and Goyle." He began taking quick steps back to the boy's dormitory, but Evelyn called after him.  
  
"You're still holding my wand, scumbag."  
  
Draco looked at Evelyn, then at the two wands in his hand, then back at her. He seemed about to keep walking, but a glance at Gary changed his mind. "We'll talk later, Sellina," He hissed, and hurled her wand up in the air. Evelyn caught it.  
  
When Draco was finally out of her sight, Evelyn let out a long sigh and collapsed onto a nearby chair, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "Gods above," She whispered. "Gary... thank you so much..."  
  
A loud crashing sound make her open her eyes again. The large man had taken a chair and hurled it across the room into the fireplace. His face was livid.  
  
"Gary!" Evelyn shouted. "Gary-- sit down. I'm okay!"  
  
He did, slowly. "I'll be speaking to the Headmaster about this... that boy should be expelled..."  
  
"His father has too much influence," Evelyn spat bitterly. "He'll always be around, he can always do whatever he wants."  
  
"Not if I can help it," Gary replied quickly. "Evelyn, did he--"  
  
"No. You came... just in the nick of time. Thank you."  
  
Queathil, finally recovering from Draco's spell, picked himself up with dignity. He slithered over to Gary, gave him a thankful lick, and then slid quickly back to Evelyn, to nestle around the back of her neck. A snake like him slept a lot.  
  
"Gary, what if he tries to..." Evelyn shuddered. "I mean, in the library, or somewhere..."  
  
"Then you curse him. Badly." Gary was looking at her sternly. "I think you and I should practice some good, dangerous hexes and curses, Evelyn."  
  
Evelyn smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks, Gary. There's time left before class, we could try a few now."  
  
Later that day, Kevin found himself drifting towards the table he and Evelyn had been at last night. They had shared no words last night when they had parted; not even a single glance. He wondered if she would be here today. At least he could study a bit before his next class came up.  
  
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard voices not far away. That was defiantly Evelyn... he strained to hear closer.  
  
"Or I'll..."  
  
"You'll what? Hit me? Hah!" Kevin recognized that voice right away, too-- it was that stupid brute Goyle, one of Draco Malfoy's gang. Angrily, he got up and began walking over to where the voices were coming from. A loud argument was taking place... and then Evelyn's voice yelling something, a whooshing sound--  
  
Kevin dodged just in time as Vincent Goyle's immobile form fell onto the ground where he had just been standing. He heard Evelyn laugh, and yell "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yeah... just fine." Kevin stepped over Goyle's body with a confused look. "What did you do to him?"  
  
"He'll wake up in a minute or so, but until then he'll be having some bad nightmares." Evelyn grinned. "A handy spell Gary showed me!"  
  
"I guess so," Kevin comment, shrugging. "Er, Evelyn, I was looking for you."  
  
"Ditto. I wanted to say--"  
  
"Er, no, Evelyn-- just..."  
  
"Look, Kevin. We were both tired, not thinking straight. I don't..."  
  
"I know what you mean," Kevin said quickly. "So, for now... friends?" He held out his hand.  
  
"Okay... friends." Evelyn shook his hand heartily.  
  
  
  
A/N: Thank you again to all my nice reviewers! I'm sorry updating is going so slowly. But I promise the next two chapters are written already, so you'll certainly be seeing them at least... I just need to get past this writer's block. 


	15. The Fourth Champion

Disclaimer: I can't remember exactly what characters I do own and which I don't, so I'll say this: All copyrighted, trademarked or otherwise owned property is property of it's respective owner and no ownership is implied on the author's part. Enjoy!  
  
A/N: I skipped the part where Dumbledore explains that the GoF is the impartial judge; I'm sorry! I'll fix that when I go over the story again, but I only plan to do that once I finish.  
  
Also, I finally figured out how to bold, italic, and underline. I'd tried the tags before but I didn't save to HTML-- if I wasn't quite so stupid, maybe I would have had proper italics and bolds already. I'll continue going like I am for now, but when my big planned revamping of the story comes around... you just wait and see ^_^.  
  
~~Chapter Fifteen: The Fourth Champion~~  
  
  
  
The day finally came when the Champions of the Triwizard Tournament would be chosen. Although he had initially not considered this anything special, Kevin found himself revising his opinion when the other students explained what a unique occurrence this was at Hogwarts.  
  
Of all the people at the school, the most nervous seemed to be the Beauxbatons students. Kevin was disappointed by the fact that only one Ravenclaw had entered his name in the Goblet of Fire.  
  
Stewart and Kevin were often seen in the Ravenclaw common room, discussing what the three tasks might be and what would happen if certain people were the champions. Lyra often joined in, offering solutions to possible tasks they thought of. She certainly knew a lot of spells.  
  
Krysten, on the other hand, was becoming increasingly busy with her school work. She was always studying, writing, and reading; she barely greeting Kevin or Lyra in the halls anymore.  
  
Evelyn and Kevin talked when they could, but opportunities to chat were few and far between.  
  
Inevitably, the day one week after the delegations had arrived came. You couldn't just feel the excitement, you could taste it-- the younger students were whispering to each other about who might become champions, while the older ones who had entered their name into the Goblet of Fire were all failing to act like they didn't care who turned out to be the Champion.  
  
Kevin looked up the hall; Dumbledore seemed to be enjoying his meal just as if it was a normal day, but Madame Maxime and Professor Karkaroff on either side of him weren't even eating. It was rather amusing watching them in contrast to Dumbledore.  
  
Finally, the plates were magically cleared. Lyra whispered something to Kevin, but he couldn't hear over the sudden large amount of noise in the hall. Then Dumbledore stood up-- and all the noise died down. This was finally it.  
  
"Well, the goblet is almost ready to make it's decision," Dumbledore intoned to the expectant students. "I estimate that it requires one more minute. Now, when the champions' names are called, I would ask them to please come up to the top of the Hall, walk along the staff table, and go through into the chamber, where they will be receiving their first instructions." At this, there was a low buzz and whispers were traded between students, which again died down quickly.  
  
Dumbledore waved his wand in an arc, and every candle excepting the jack-o- lanterns was suddenly extinguished. The Goblet of Fire, standing on the staff table in front of Dumbledore, was now almost painful to look at, its bright blue and white flames licking around the edges of the goblet and occasionally shooting up in a little burst.  
  
Suddenly, the flames in the goblet turned red. Bright sparks shot out from the goblet, as if inside the fire a burning log had just snapped in two. And then, carried on a tongue of bright flame, a piece of blackened parchment shot out of the goblet. Dumbledore caught it expertly in his hand and held it over the flames to be able to read it.  
  
"The champion for Durmstrang," He read in a deep, loud voice, "will be Viktor Krum."  
  
The entire hall burst into applause at this. The name rung a bell somewhere to Kevin, but he couldn't place the name no matter how much he thought. Still, he clapped along with everyone else for the several minutes until it died down again. His hands were already aching. Viktor Krum got up and slouched over to the door Dumbledore has indicated.  
  
The entire hall waited in tense silence again. The flames turned red... and another piece of parchment shot out. Dumbledore caught it just like the one before.  
  
"The champion for Beauxbatons is Fleur Delacour!"  
  
Kevin clapped even louder, and only a few seats over from him Fleur Delacour stood up and walked up the hall. The only people who didn't clap were the other Beauxbatons students, who all seemed to be extremely stricken by the news. One of them was sobbing so hard she could be clearly heard over the clapping.  
  
Sobs and laughter finally stopped again. The flames once again turned red... and, like before, another scrap of parchment was propelled out of the goblet on a tongue of flame. This was the Hogwarts champion-- everyone is the school was silent and still as if they were all petrified. Kevin waited in nervous silence, looking up the hall towards Dumbledore.  
  
"The Hogwarts Champion," Dumbledore read, pausing for effect at that point, "is... Cedric Diggory!"  
  
The entire school burst into applause. Kevin had seen Cedric now and then, and heard about him; he seemed to be a kind of Harry Potter among the Hufflepuffs, and he had always been polite to Kevin. Many Ravenclaws stood up, and all the Hufflepuffs did, giving Cedric Diggory a-- well deserved, in Kevin's opinion-- standing ovation. Cedric seemed embarrassed, but very happy, as the walked up the hall towards the teacher's table.  
  
"Excellent!" Dumbledore called out to the hall. "Well, we now have our three champions. I am sure I can count upon you all, including the remaining students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. to give your champions every ounce of support you can muster. By cheering your champions on, you will contribute in a very real--"  
  
Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped speaking. Kevin looked around in confusion, and then back up to the staff table-- and it was quite obvious then why Dumbledore has stopped. The flames in the Goblet of Fire had turned red. A fourth time.  
  
Although Kevin had been expecting it, he still widened his eyes in surprise when a fourth piece of parchment flew out of the goblet. The entire hall seemed to gasp as one.  
  
Dumbledore reached out and caught in one hand as quickly as he had all the others, but the confusion was plain on his face. He stared at the parchment for a long, long while, before saying two words to the shocked hall:  
  
"Harry Potter."  
  
A stunned silence filled the hall. Kevin blinked several times, and looked over to Lyra; she looked as confused as he did; no, as the rest of the entire hall did. Everyone seemed to be speaking; a few jeers could be heard from the Slytherin and Hufflepuff tables. Over the hall, Kevin could just barely see Harry Potter stand up and begin walking ever so slowly towards the staff table.  
  
"What's going on?" Stewart asked loudly. Kevin could hear voices all around him... "...as if he doesn't have enough publicity already..." "...he looks stunned..." "was Cedric not good enough after all?"... Just about every possible opinion on the matter was being voiced at the Ravenclaw table alone. Kevin had already decided to reserve his opinion until he knew what was happening.  
  
Potter was in the room behind the staff table now, and Dumbledore stood up and announced grimly to the hall, "Prefects, please lead all students to their common rooms. Guests will kindly retire to their respective area and wait for their Headmasters."  
  
That was that, of course. The angry buzz that filled the hall was ignored by the teachers as the Prefects tried to get the crowd of unwilling students to leave the hall. Reluctantly, Kevin got up and trudged along with the other Ravenclaws towards their common room, brooding. Lyra and Stewart were talking in hushed voices just a little bit off, and Lyra gestured for Kevin to join them.  
  
"What d'you think, Kevin?" Lyra asked as they walked.  
  
"Don't know. It's bloody odd. I don't think anyone was expecting it!"  
  
"Exactly," Stewart muttered. "I got a good look at Potter's face. He was shocked!"  
  
Lyra sighed. "It's annoying, not knowing, isn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," Kevin and Stewart agreed in unison.  
  
They didn't talk any more until they reached the common room. Instantly, the talking began getting louder. -So many opinions, so little to go on-, Kevin thought to himself. -And in the mean time, this is getting annoying.-  
  
Kevin shut his ears to the talking around him. He absolutely hated large, loud crowds. The noise was too much...  
  
Kevin shouldered past the people in the chalk full common room and swung the door to the men's bathrooms open, closing it firmly behind him. Thankfully, the door had some kind of noise-proof enchantment on it, for all sounds from the common room were entirely blotted out, instantly.  
  
Blissful quiet. Odin's eye, how he hated loud crowds. He couldn't lock himself up in the bathroom forever, of course. But maybe he could wait until the noise died down. Sighing, he leaned against one of the sinks and frowned at himself in the mirror.  
  
"What a nightmare," He said in a hushed tone. "Perhaps people will stop talking tomorrow. I don't think I'll get any sleep tonight."  
  
-You shouldn't be talking to yourself,- He chided mentally.  
  
"Why not? I argue to myself in my head all the time. Nothing wrong with hearing it."  
  
Kevin shrugged, and walked out. The situation had clearly escalated; from listening only a minute, he could tell there were three sides to the argument now-- Pro-Potter, Anti-Potter, and then the intelligent ones who stayed neutral and reserved their opinions. He spotted Lyra among the latter group. She obviously shared Kevin's opinion about the argument, and gave him a rueful shrug before turning back to watch.  
  
The moment she looked away, Kevin slipped right out the tapestry. He didn't think anyone had seen him, and he was sure nobody would miss him; Lyra already suspected, if not knew, of his wandering habits already, and rarely inquired about the chunks of time he just wasn't around. And Stewart, from the looks of it, had been very busy explaining to the room how Potter deserved a decent chance.  
  
Kevin leaned against the tapestry in relief for a second. Since it was rock solid from the other side, no matter how deceivingly it rippled and swayed in the wind, he could do that, although it was odd to feel something solid ripple and sway under you. Laughing quietly, he took off down the hall.  
  
Kevin was in the library before he knew it. He hadn't been thinking about where he was going, and, as always, his legs had lead him here. Because, a stubborn part of him reasoned, there's got to be an answer in one of these books.  
  
Filch, the caretaker, was bound to be prowling around somewhere near, though. He always stuck near the library unless he was chasing that Poltergeist, Peeves.  
  
Still, Kevin hardly stopped to listen as he entered the Restricted Section, and picked up where he had left off last time in searching. For what, he wasn't sure. Perhaps just a book that seemed interesting. After all, rules were meant to be broken, and there's no point in keeping something away if it's not interesting.  
  
'Fifty uses for human blood'... Kevin raised an eyebrow and quickly moved on to the next one. 'Tarnished Souls'... 'Wine to Venom'... 'Delving a Wizard's Mind'... Kevin walked down the isle, checking every book on the shelf as he went. Nothing seemed particularly interesting. But wait-- what was that?  
  
The word 'Familiars' on a tome on shelf lower than the one he was looking on had caught his eye. With much difficulty-- and sneezing-- he pulled the dusty book out of the spot where it had been jammed in between two others, and, his interest piqued, looked at the back and front. The book was called 'Familiars: A Manual'; it was very old, leather-bound, and at least as wide as Kevin's fist.  
  
His interest piqued, Kevin walked back to the table he liked to study at and sat down, opening the book. He flipped past several title pages, introductions, and a preamble before finally getting to the book itself.  
  
The text was small and dull, lacking both modern print quality and medieval illuminations (which were still to be found on some very old books in the library). Still, it was readable, and the content was quite interesting. Kevin found himself absorbed in minutes. 


	16. Story temp halted Author's Note

Hi all. This is an update to explain the lack of updates for my story. It's pretty simple, really-I lost my hard drive. And while I have most of my story backed up on FF.net, I've lost all my notes and the two chapters I hadn't uploaded.  
  
I plan to keep updating, but it'll be a while.  
  
Thanks! 


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